Kagraku
by Aero Tendo
Summary: The evil Naraku involves Kagome and the Jewel Shards in a unusual way which has an effect on everyone, especially Inuyasha.  I will try to keep them IC as much as possible. This has a lot of the people from the Anime so keep an eye out for everyone! :
1. Prologue

Title: Kagome's Evil Twin!  
  
Prologue: (As viewed through a fog) The place looks eerie, foreboding to anyone who could see it, and any sunlight that filters through isn't the natural color, but is a color of a red moon for that is the way the owner, Naraku liked it for it matched his mood, especially today when Kagome and her little group foiled another one of his schemes.  
  
(The view changes to that of inside) The red light shines upon the face of a sitting Naraku with the window open, however his attention isn't directed to the outside or the light even, but upon the nearly whole jewel that he holds in his hand. There isn't any sound within the room aside from his breathing, and even that is soft, muted almost. He stares at it as he thinks about the powers granted to him by the jewel and ponders what new things he will be able to do as he gets closer and closer to making it whole. Turning the jewel within his fingers, he sees the obvious place where very few fragments need to go, at best, Naraku mused, he would need four more shards. However he also knew that Kagome had two shards, which left only two more remaining to find. The problem for him was, how to get it from Kagome and hurt Inuyasha as well.  
  
Naraku's view shifts to the pots that he used when creating his 'children' and though they had been useful in his plans on occasion, they too had failed in eliminating Inuyasha and his bunch. He thought of how Kagome, and how she alone had come close to destroying him and his 'children' on a few occasions and thought of a few curses at her before he wished how she worked for him instead of that mutt Inuyasha, for then he would already have all the shards in his possession. Still staring at the pots, he slowly lowers his eyelids as a thought comes to mind. (View zooms in to Naraku's eyes and barely shows his eyebrows, but the look is one of pure evil.) 


	2. The Beginning?

Story By: Eric Lentz  
  
Chapter One: The Beginning...?  
  
(The scene is within the Inuyasha forest somewhere at what would be 9 p.m.) Kikyo was wandering through the forest in deep thought as several captured souls were floating close by in case she should ever need them. She thought of Inuyasha and how he had proclaimed that he would always protect her and keep her from Naraku. She decided that Inuyasha was a foolish hanyou to believe that she needed any help at all; still it warmed her in a way to think that he cared for her even after all that she had done to him.  
  
(A breeze starts to stir through the forest, focused mostly over the ground and only lightly stirring the tree branches.) Kikyo turned as she noticed the stirrings with her sensitive abilities, looking in the direction as it passed her at a rapid pace. "Evil stirs tonight, I wonder..." And she trails off her voice as she notes the path that it takes. She turns towards the direction that the unknown evil was taking so as to satisfy her curiosity.  
  
(The stirring continues on for quite a while through the forest, making a hushed silence as animals sense the approach and scamper out of the way and it reaches the destination shortly before daylight.) The pair of red eyes glow from the tall grass menacingly and waits before the glowing eyes dim with the grass becoming a standstill. Even Kikyo, who had been following it lost track of it as it became very cloaked. She knew however what lay in the direction that it had taken... her home from her past life, and possibly Inuyasha as her younger sister, who now a old woman took care of him and his friends by treating wounds and giving wise advice. Kikyo, paused where she stood and then after a few moments of contemplating, she sat down by a nearby tree and accepted a nearby soul that her soul snatchers had gathered for her. She would wait and see what the unknown evil would do; she had little else to do with her time after all.  
  
(Time passes until the sound of grunting could be heard coming from a nearby, usually empty well.) A rather large, seemingly overstuffed backpack appeared as if by magic over the edge of the wooden rim of the well. Then another smaller, white bag appeared, followed by a rather small blue bag before finally a hand appeared at the top of the well. The hand at the well edge was joined by another, and with some sounds of struggling, a black- haired girl appeared! Kagome muttered to herself, "Well, I hope everyone appreciates all the trouble I went through to bring everything that they asked for." And with that said, she pulled herself out of the well and lifted the overly stuffed backpack onto her back and picked up the two smaller bags before walking over to her bike to place them onto a small bike rack on the back of it. Kagome hops onto the bike and starts to peddle, towards the village with thoughts of how happy her friends will be to see her and the stuff she brought with her.  
  
(The grass starts to stir once again...Kikyo senses the motion and begins to stand up.) Kagome is riding her bike as she thinks her happy thoughts to herself and is at the top of the hill that leads down to the village. Inuyasha and Miroku are the first to detect something strange in the air as the grass stirs quickly, coming up behind Kagome and gaining ground on her. She is oblivious to what is happening behind her and has even stopped her bike at the top to wave to her friends. Kagome still doesn't suspect a thing when Inuyasha starts off at high speed, thinking that he's just anxious to see what she brought this time.  
  
It isn't until she can see Miroku and Sango together on her Kirara along with Shippou riding on Sango's shoulder with serious or in Shippou's case, frantic that she suspects something. While Kagome strains to hear what they say, just as she begins to make out the frantic shouts just barely, that she hears something behind her. Kagome turns and lets out a brief cry as something, still cloaked except for a pair of red, glowing eyes and a mouth with obvious fangs lashes out at her and bites down onto her arm, just below the shoulder. Kagome cries out louder than before from the pain as some blood spurts into the air, and Inuyasha picks up the scent of Kagome's blood.  
  
Inuyasha's ears twitch unhappily as he hears the cries fade and his name uttered as she asks for his help. Inuyasha thinks to himself, "Hold on Kagome! I'll be there as soon as I can!" Miroku, Sango and Shippou were already in the air, but not able to move much faster than Inuyasha who looked like he would beat them to the scene. The sight from the air that Inuyasha couldn't see as he was running on the ground, was to something to behold. Kagome was floating in mid-air, clothes crumpled in the middle as if she was squeezed tight by something and all that could be seen for certain was two glowing red eyes and fangs in her arm.  
  
Suddenly, the red eyes looked straight at them and pulled out its fangs to drop Kagome onto the ground. She looked very white, as if almost all the blood had been drained from her! The grass stirred and vanished among the trees just a moment before Inuyasha bound onto the top with his weapon at ready. However, the damage was done and Inuyasha picked Kagome up just as the others were about to land. Kagome, being one of strong will said, "Forget... about me... get... the snake." Inuyasha shook his head and said, "No way am I leaving you Kagome! You need help right away!" and then he stood up with her in his arms, and as Kagome cuddled close to him with some of her blood flowing onto his robes. He didn't care about that; all that mattered was Kagome right there and then.  
  
Giving the area a quick look, using his senses of sight, smell and hearing to detect if the snake was still around. However, Inuyasha failed to even be able to smell Kagome's blood in the air or on anything nearby and the forest was silent. Looking back down, Inuyasha saw her look so frail, so weak and helpless. Inuyasha was filled with rage and vowed in his thoughts to destroy whatever had done this to Kagome. Taking off at a blurring run, Inuyasha ran down the hill towards the village which was the closest kind of help he knew, ignoring the repeated cries of Shippou, asking if Kagome was alright with the others following as best as they could.  
  
Kagome stayed conscious somehow throughout the very quick run to the one place that Inuyasha felt would be able to help the most. When he got there, the quiet look on his face spoke of how serious it was and how mad he was that he allowed it to happen. Kagome was laid upon the floor and even the flea Myouga showed up, offering his advice. "Master Inuyasha, I think that Kagome's lost too much blood. She somehow needs to get her blood back if she is to survive." Said the "faithful" flea servant to Inuyasha, and just before he was about to get swatted, the old woman said, "As much as I would hate to say it, ye may be right... There isn't anything I can do Inuyasha. She is beyond my power to help." Just then Sango, Miroku and Shippou with the tiny Kirara came bursting in. "What's wrong with Kagome?" asked Sango first as she looked at her rather pale, still conscious friend Kagome on the floor. "She needs to replenish the blood in her, and I not have a way to give her any. I fear Kagome may not be long for this world..." said Kaede as she looked down at Kagome with her one good eye for the other was covered in a eye patch.  
  
Sango kneeled by her friend on the left side and picked up her hand to hold it, "You can't leave us Kagome, we need you... all of us..." and looked up from Kagome to look around and saw that no one was going to disagree there but a frustrated Inuyasha yelled, "Isn't there any way to put blood into her? I'd gladly give mine if it'd save her!" Miroku looked up from where he had kneeled at Kagome's head and said, "We all would but no one knows how to do that Inuyasha..." Kagome's very weak voice said, "I... know a way..."  
  
Sango softly squeezed Kagome's hand and said, "Hush, save your strength..." but Inuyasha said, "Wait! How Kagome?!?" and was beside her right side, bumping Shippou out of the way. Shippou protested briefly before Kagome spoke again, "My time... hospital... knows of a way... take me... home... Inuyasha...to a hospital..." and then Kagome's eyes flittered to halfway as if saying all that had drained her of a lot of her strength. Miroku was the first to speak, "She may be right Inuyasha, she has brought back all sorts of miraculous medical stuff from her time. Maybe they can help her too, but only if we get her there in time. 


	3. Journey

Story By: Eric Lentz  
  
Chapter Two: The Gang's Journey in Time  
  
(Scene shows a ordinary looking well in a clearing) Inuyasha arrives at the well carrying Kagome and is followed by Kirara carrying Miroku, Sango, Kaede, and Shippou on her back. Myouga the flea was standing on Inuyasha's shoulder as he said, "There is the magical well that will take Kagome to her time and hopefully they'll be able to save her."  
  
Inuyasha seems to be lost in thought and thus seems to be ignoring Myouga's words. "Inuyasha!" yells Miroku as Kirara lands on the ground changes back into its smaller self. Inuyasha turns to face his traveling companions and though he wouldn't admit it, he was glad to see his friends even if it was to see them worried and trying to hide their worry for him and Kagome with caring, supportive faces on all of them.  
  
Miroku walked up to Inuyasha and said, "Take good care of her and know that you have all our support. I only wish that we all could travel down the well with you to her time." And just then, Kaede speaks up, "But ye all can, with the power of the shards that Kagome has."  
  
Inuyasha looked at the old woman after looking at Kagome and gave a very weak nod and said, "Take them, but I'm going ahead! There isn't time to argue." And with that Inuyasha tossed the tiny jar with the jewel shards and leaped quickly from where he stood and went down the center of the well perfectly. Even though he had leaped perfectly, he cradled her as if to protect her from even the effects of the well.  
  
Once through the well, he leaped up and with that single bound, landed upon the edge of the well. Giving one more look at Kagome, Inuyasha noted that she was still there with him and barely conscious before he leaped through the doors and ran quickly to the house as he yelled out, "Kagome's Mom! Souta! Anyone! Kagome needs help!" and even though the shout was heard from outside, before anyone within the house could react Inuyasha barged in with a very pale and weak looking Kagome in his arms.  
  
Everyone in the room when they saw Kagome's condition ran over to where they were with Kagome's mother beating them to her since she had already been standing, where the others had been sitting down at the table. The first words were "What's wrong with her?" with many others following suit at rapid fire, frustrating more an already frustrated Inuyasha before he snapped and yelled, which hushed everyone else into silence. "Kagome told me this time could save her! Are you all going to gab or do something to help her!" With those words, questions on everyone's lips froze and action was taken. Kagome's mother (Mrs. Higurashi) took immediate charge and said, "Everyone, we're going to the hospital. Get into the car." And with the tone of voice she used, not even Inuyasha was going to argue.  
  
(Inside the car) Kagome's mother was the driver with Grandpa sitting up in front, with Inuyasha still cradling Kagome in his arms did his best to keep her comfortable with Souta sitting in his Grandpa's lap so that Kagome would have the most space. The mother drove quickly through the streets with a fiery determination and focus that impressed Inuyasha a little even though his mind was mostly focused on Kagome. "Don't you dare leave me Kagome..." he very softly said to her and brushed a few stray stands of her dark hair from her still very pale face. Kagome gave a weak smile didn't even nod as she felt too weak to even do that.  
  
They arrived at the hospital and before Inuyasha could move, the mother turned and said, "Inuyasha, I'm afraid you can't go in. How am I going to supposed to explain you to the doctors?" and pointed at his ears. Inuyasha was not happy and let a low growl out, "Let any of them try to stop me, I won't leave Kagome's side until I know she'll be ok." With an exasperated sigh, she said, "Alright then, put this on" and pulled a cap out from somewhere and handed to Inuyasha. "Do it!" she said in a firm voice and with a mumble, Inuyasha pulled it over his head and ears. "Now can I go?" and with a nod from her everyone scrambled out of the car, following Inuyasha.  
  
Inuyasha stopped at the first human that had a scent of a lot of human blood upon him and said, "Can you help her?" The human was a doctor who'd just come out of a four-hour surgery and was about to direct him to the nearest nurse when he saw how pale Kagome was.  
  
Kagome's mom came running up and said, "Please help my daughter Dr...looked at his name tag Yama." Dr. Yama spoke to her while checking over Kagome's vital signs, "I will do my best, but she's already lost so much blood. How did this happen?" When only silence followed, the doctor said, "I could help her more if I knew what happened." Kagome's mother looked at Inuyasha who was looking at Kagome and then said, "She was bitten by something that drained her blood before I could reach her." The doctor took it as that was all the information he was going to get and said, "Nurse Tina! Come over here quickly and bring a stretcher! I need this young lady taken to room A- 3 and prepared for blood transfusion right away!" The nearby nurse looked at Dr. Yama and nodded, "Right away Doctor" and within moments came back with a stretcher and refusing to let the nurse take Kagome from his arms, he very gently places her down on the stretcher and said to Kagome, "Stay strong Kagome" before she was wheeled quickly down the hallway with Inuyasha and the rest of the family following while Dr. Yama asked Kagome's mother what blood type Kagome was, any allergies to medicine and other medical questions.  
  
(Back at the well, Feudal Era shortly after Inuyasha's leap into the well.) Everyone agreed to hold onto a part of the available jewel shards and hoped that it would be enough to get them all to Kagome's time. Miroku, Kaede (especially after Miroku rubbed Sango's rear) and Shippou would hold onto one jewel and Sango with Kirara would take the second one.  
  
Sango looked at Miroku's group and said, "Are you sure this will work?" and Miroku looked at Sango, "If the jewel shards can allow Kagome to come back and forth between our time and hers, I see no reason that this will not work. However, if this doesn't work then some of might have to remain behind." Kaede looked at Sango and said, "Fear not ye, this will work for the power of the shards is great indeed." Shippou said, "Let's go already, Kagome needs us!" and with those words everyone nods and only Miroku says, "Indeed, let's go."  
  
Sango is the first to go down with Kirara in her arms and the well's magic appears, lighting up all blue with tiny white lights swirling about everywhere, making her think "Is this what it is like every time Kagome comes here?" feeling very light, as if she was almost in midair but definitely moving forward.  
  
(Kagome's Time) Sango and Kirara land on the bottom of the well and it looks almost exactly the same but slightly different, older and when she turns to look up she sees that there is a rope ladder leading up. "Well Kirara, it looks like we're in Kagome's time." Feeling a little anxious as this was the future and she had no idea what to expect other than Kagome's stories, which some sounded totally unbelievable but she figured that she would find out for herself very soon.  
  
Kirara leaps from Sango's arms to allow her freedom to use her hands so she can climb and with the well so small, there wasn't room for her to transform into her larger form and fly out. Sango puts her shard away into a pocket safely just as the floor starts to emit the blue light with small white specks flowing outward and at first she panicked and thought she was going back before she relaxes her pose with the head of Miroku the first to come out, followed by Kaede and Shippou.  
  
Shippou says, "It looks like the same well to me, are we in Kagome's time?" with Sango replying, "Yes, just look up" and indicates the rope ladder leading up out of the well. Miroku nods ands says, "Well, we better leave the well then. I doubt Inuyasha will wait for us to get Kagome the help she needs."  
  
Kaede nods as she looks up the well and takes the jewel from Miroku, "I'll hold this for safekeeping if ye don't object." And Miroku looks at the shorter woman and says, "Why do you get to hold the jewel shard?" Kaede gives Miroku a short look and says, "Have ye forgotten, I am a priestess and thus it is my duty to make sure the shards are protected properly."  
  
Miroku gets flustered, "Oh come now, the jewel is as safe in my hands as they are yours." Sango says, "Just let her hold the jewel Miroku, it doesn't matter who holds it. Our main concern is why we came here, and that is for Kagome remember?" Miroku nods while rubbing the back of his head with a hand, "I guess you're right."  
  
Shippou says, "Yeah! I want to see Kagome!" and hops off Kaede's shoulder to land on the ground next to Kirara, who gives off a little odd, meow sound to Shippou as if agreeing with what Shippou said.  
  
Sango grabs the nearby rope ladder right hand and says, "Now let's all go support Kagome, I am sure she needs every bit of help that she can get." With that said, everyone nods and one by one, they all go up the well. 


	4. It is time

**Story by: Eric Lentz**

**Chapter Three:** **It is time...**

(Back in the Feudal Era) Naraku looks out his window with a bored, yet expectant expression upon his face. He detects the sound of the door opening and yet makes no move to even acknowledge the person entering for as long as he held her heart in his hand, he would treat her any way he so desired.

The woman Kagura steps in with obvious venom in her eyes, try as she might to hide it for she was as free as the wind and would always consider herself as such with the exception that Naraku held her very life in his hand, quite literally. She knew she had to bide her time until she could escape from his control, but until then she would do his bidding. She said, "I have brought her with me as you have ordered Naraku..." and then steps aside from the door to allow a woman to walk in.

She was dressed in black with a stripe of red for her sash. Her hair was red and long enough that if she were on her knees, her hair's end would touch the floor with over three inches of laying upon the floor. The biggest difference from that of a normal woman was that she had two foxtails sticking out of the rear as she approached Naraku, both of which were at rest currently and indicated that she was calm. Around her neck and body was a large snake with glowing red eyes that stared at Kagura and then at Naraku as if trying to figure out something before the strange kitsune woman put her hand very slowly upon the head of it and laid it back down upon her.

Naraku stays faced to the window in his human lord form before saying, "Did you get what I requested?" and then as the woman spoke, he turns to face her. "Yes, I got what you asked for and it was easier than you lead me to believe it would be."

Kagura flips out her fan, partially opening it and says, "If you'd tried to take her blood by confronting her, you wouldn't be so quick to say that."

Naraku smiles in such a slight, slow way that it was difficult to determine that he hadn't been already smiling so evilly like that the whole time. "Now Kagura, it doesn't matter how she got it as long as the results are the same..." Naraku holds out his hand, offering a jewel shard to her in the palm of his hand, and the small shard seemed to gleam before her eyes. "As promised, a shikon jewel shard to give you enough power to destroy your enemy with." He closes his hand, covering the shard with his fingers as he then says, "Before I hand this over to you, I'll require what you obtained for me." He looks over to an empty, glowing pot and says, "Put all the blood you got into that and the shard is yours."

The woman walked up slowly to the glowing pot and whispered something to the snake before it curved its neck to look at her and nod. The snake appears to blink before it slides off of her and over to the pot and opens it mouth and to the surprise of everyone in the room but the snake and the woman, a lot of blood flows from the tips of its fangs as if it were a river. The amount seemed, by Naraku's estimate to be enough to almost finish off Kagome and that would not do, if his plans were to work. The flow slowly comes to a stop and drips from each of the two fang tips as if it couldn't wait to get rid of the blood that it had contained. Once the snake was done, it slithered back up the body of the woman and settled with its head on her shoulder and its glowing eyes upon Naraku.

Naraku looks at the woman with sharp eyes and says, "Was Kagome alive when you left her?" The woman looks at him, undeterred by his stare and says, "Yes, she was and I must say she was fortunate that her friends were so close by as Kiroru was enjoying the taste of her quite a bit. It was their presence that which caused Kiroru to flee before draining enough to kill her." Naraku's eyelids lower just a little before he opens his hand and says, "The shard as promised, be sure to use it wisely as I might one day need your services again, Midoro."

Midoro nods to Naraku and turns to leave with the snake giving a open-mouthed hiss at Kagura who then opened her fan and prepared herself to strike when Naraku said, "No Kagura, do not strike." And though he said it without anger in his voice, the undertone spoke of a warning not to cross him. Tempted as though she was as Midoro and her pet Kiroru rubbed her the wrong way in a way she couldn't describe.

Midoro walks out the door and Kagura follows her out to walk beside her, fan ready should that snake strike at her. Midoro seemed indifferent to Kagura's discomfort and didn't say a word until they had reached the shield that prevented Inuyasha or anyone else from detecting him. "Tell me, why do you work for such a evil buffoon?"

Kagura grinds her teeth a bit before answering, "Because he has power over me, for as long as he holds the key to my very being, I have to do what he says." Surprisingly the face of

Midoro softens just for a second or two as if she fully understood and... there was something more in just her eyes, Kagura thought... Yes, even a boiling anger within but both faded quickly enough and she wondered if she'd imagined it before convincing herself that she hadn't.

Midoro half-turns away from Kagura before saying, "Men like that will always get their just desserts in the end. Trust me, you'll get your freedom one day and you'll soar on more than just that feather that you fly upon when that happens."

Kagura shakes her head as she makes part of the shield open enough for her walk out and says, "That day can't come soon enough for me, I'm like the wind. I desire to be free to do as I wish and go where I wish." With those words the snake on Midoro's shoulder settles down, appearing to go to sleep as those glowing eyes vanish and she walks on through. Then with a swishing of her tails, she vanishes from sight in a sudden fog that appears out of nowhere to engulf her from sight.


	5. When you wish upon a star

**Story by: Eric Lentz**

**Chapter Four: When you wish upon a star...**

(In Kagome's time)

Sango was holding Kirara in her lap, lightly petting the small cat-like creature while Miroku sat in a chair next to her and tried to talk Inuyasha into calming down.

Inuyasha as restless, it had been hours since Kagome had been taken to this place and what bothered Inuyasha the most was that in this place he couldn't detect Kagome's scent because of the overpowering scents of so much else in here. Every moan, groan or cry of pain made his ears twitch and made him wonder about how Kagome was doing.

After Sango and the others showed up on Kirara and surprisingly getting few looks except for the people who had nothing to do but wait in the waiting area. It was then that they all managed to find each other in the hospital, mostly by Inuyasha hearing them come in through the front door.

When Inuyasha had first arrived with Kagome, his ears had been under a hat but Shippou had hopped up on him and taken the hat off his head while asking "Cool hat! Can I try the hat Inuyasha?" and not bothered to get a reply for which he was bonged on the head for.

After a passing nurse tended to Shippou's head, the others including the whole family of Kagome's settled into the waiting area and did the most hardest thing that they had ever to do... even harder than battling Naraku, was wait. Wait on the news about Kagome's condition and that was proving to be more difficult than thought possible with Inuyasha's very visible frustrations.

Inuyasha says, "I can't take all this waiting!" and paces some more while keeping one hand on his sword's hilt and the fact that he'd done this ever since walking into the waiting room was making more than a few people in there nervous and a few had already left to other areas while a security guard kept a close eye on Inuyasha from a corner with his gun's safety on "off". This of course didn't matter to Inuyasha since he was not familiar with guns and considered himself both tough enough and fast enough to handle any weapon that could be used against him by any mere human.

Miroku stood up and said rather calmly, "Inuyasha, gather yourself my friend, I know how you feel but this isn't helping Kagome any." Sango nods and says, from where she sits, "Miroku is right, all you're doing is making it worse for everyone else with your agitation and we're all worried enough as it is." Kirara gives a soft "Mew" as if in agreement with Sango. Shippou hops off his chair by Kagome's mother and walks up to Inuyasha and says, "I'm worried about Kagome too, we all are..." and looks like he's ready to burst into tears over worry about Kagome.

Inuyasha growls softly, "I should be by her side..." at which Kagome's mother gets up from her seat and picks up Shippou in one hand and he supports himself by laying on her shoulder. Inuyasha to no one in particular growls, "How could I let this happen to her! This is all my fault! I should have been there at the well." She puts her hand on his shoulder and meets his eyes with his when he looks at her as if to say more but something in her eyes silences him.

She looks at him with eyes that showed a strong will and very loving heart, no anger or blame within them at all. Inuyasha gulps softly even as she speaks in a tone his own mother used when she spoke to him out of love and to explain something. "Inuyasha... Please stop this. I know how you feel all too well." Her fingers clench just ever so slightly into the fabric on his shoulder as she continues, "She is my only daughter and I love her so very much. It has been hard to watch her go off to such a dangerous era to fight such evil. But I know that at the same time she has good friends such as you, Sango, Shippou, and even Miroku... you all care deeply for Kagome and protect her with all that you can."

Her eyes leave Inuyasha's for just a moment to look at the doors that which her daughter went through, with Inuyasha's following before their eyes met again. "I know that if you could have, you would have gladly taken whatever to protect her. I am right aren't I?"

Her eyes glitter with the beginnings of tears on the edge before Inuyasha softly says, "Yes... I would have given my life in order to protect hers." He tilts his head down, looking at his feet before continuing, "That is why it is so hard for me, I should have been there to keep this from happening to her." At this point She wraps her arms around his shoulders and pulls him into a soft hug with her resting on his shoulders. "It is alright Inuyasha, I don't blame you at all for what happened. You shouldn't feel bad; I know that Kagome feels very safe and comfortable around you, even more so than in her own home and time. I think that she even loves you in her own way and has always trusted you to do your very best and what is right." Inuyasha and everyone else was left speechless for a few moments as the words sank in.

(Back in the Feudal Era)

((In a forest somewhere))

Walking through the forest with her soul collectors, Kikyo sends something strange. A familiar tugging of her soul as if it were being tugged at by Kagome but at the same time it was strange as if it weren't Kagome. She also knew that it only happened when Kagome was nearby and she could tell that Kagome was not anywhere near her. She frowns and whispers to herself, "What is going on?" with only the wind stirring in silent answer to her.

((Back at Naraku's place))

Naraku's shield over his place shimmered slightly, giving no indications to what evil plans are being concocted within the walls. Only the living souls within the walls had any idea and at the moment, only two were within the shield. Naraku and although she appeared to be a little girl carrying a mirror, she too was part of Naraku. The other one was flying on her feather high above the forest and just by happenstance she flies over Kikyo.

((In a cave somewhere))

Within this cave there are many once, powerful demons and one lonely, female priestess by the name Midoriko. She, who gave birth to the jewel that Inuyasha, Naraku and so many other countless people and demons have sought after. The frozen form of Midoriko would look strange if anyone had been in the cave to see it at that point for it seemed to form a tear at one of the eyes. A few moments later that tear seems to fall over her cheek and fall to land on the ground below in a quiet plip with no more seeming to follow it.


	6. For Your Info FYI :

For Your Info

To everyone who sent a review about my most recent chapters, I just want to say thanks!

Also, to everyone who has added me to their watch for and favorite authors I want to say thanks! I will take any reviews and praise into advisement as I write my next chapters, so keep them coming! :)

I've been working hard at my next chapter and it will give a hint to what Naraku is planning. I won't spoil the surprise, so don't ask. As for when Kagome comes out of the hospital, you'll just have to wait and see. This isn't going to be a short story by any means. (grin) Just know that Kagome is going to need all the people that she can get to help her get through what Naraku has planned, and you'll see what I have planned for the gang to foil yet another of Naraku's plans even though this will be a tough one!


	7. A wish is a promise the heart makes

**Story by: Eric Lentz**

**Chapter Five: A wish is a promise the heart makes...**

(Kagome's Time)

Time went very slowly and agonizingly for everyone in the hospital's waiting area but fortunately Kagome's mother found a way to help pass the time by asking about the adventures that they all had in the feudal era.

Kagome's mother says to Sango with wide eyes and looking like she'd just held her breath without realizing it, "Wow, I had no idea that you had faced so many demons in your line of work. You look so young and have faced so much already."

Sango nods and says, "Well, it was scary at times but whenever I needed courage I just had to remember that I had family and friends out there looking out for me and supporting me."

Sango's eyes seem to drift to the far wall as she holds a cup of coffee in her hands and rolls the handle side to side as she remembers her past. "My father was one who cared very much about my brother and I. There were times that he could be stern, but I always knew that he had to look strong for the others."

Sango lowers her eyes and looks into the coffee without really seeing it. "I would like to think that he'd be happy with how I've managed my life after what happened." She raised her eyes up to meet the mother who seemed so very much like her own before a demon got her. "Kagome has become like a dear friend to me, a sister at times when I've needed one... I know that with her help, we'll put a end to Naraku's evil ways but a part of me worries that when we do that, she will stop coming back to my time and I'll lose my friend."

Kagome's mother very softly smiles and reaches out, putting a hand on her shoulders, feeling more than just the heavy padding on her shoulder, she felt the heavy weight within her. "Sango dear, you shouldn't worry about such things. I know my Kagome and she would rather face this Naraku head on by herself than ever lose any of her friends." Looking at everyone here with her eyes and meeting them so that they knew for sure they were included, "All of her friends... After all, that is why you have all come right? You are here in case you can be of any help in any way, no matter how small. Am I right?" she says to which various replies are given by everyone but Inuyasha who seems to stare at the doors that Kagome went through 9 hours ago but she knew that Inuyasha silently agreed with her.

Kagome's mother turned to the little fox child, Shippou and said to him, "It must have been frightening for you with all the adventures I've been hearing about, but I can tell that you're a very brave little boy." She says it without any teasing about the word "little" but it still upset him, "I am not little" he says softly but clearly in a way of asking her not to call him that.

Kagome's mother smiles softly to him and reaches over to pick him up from nearby seat and puts him on her lap, "That's right, you're not little... you're a big, brave fox, and I bet you're a lot like your father."

Shippou looks up at Kagome's mother and says with the brightest child, hope-filled eyes with a mix of pride in them, "You really think so?" he asks before she smiles and nods before saying, "Yes, I do Shippou."

Kagome's little brother Sota nods and says, "Yeah! I bet you dad was a cool one!" Shippou smiles and looks at the two of him before puffing up his chest and beats his tiny hand as a fist upon it and says, "Yeah, my day was an awesome one alright! He was always helping others and a pretty brave fighter, and I'm going to grow up just like him!" This put a smile on nearly everyone's face in the room, and although Inuyasha would have been the first to spoil things by reminding that his father was defeated by the thunder brothers, he said nothing as he just sat there and shifting about in his uneasiness about being able to do nothing to help Kagome or even be able to see her.

Kaede looks at Kagome's mother and says, "Ye are a very loving mother, that you are and a strong one. I can see where Kagome gets her character and strength of will from." Kagome's mother blushes and puts her hand to her cheek saying, "Oh my, thank you Kaede. That is very sweet of you to say." Kaede nods from her seat and says, "Think nothing of it, ye have raised her very well and it is a excellent reflection off of you." Kagome's mother blushes even redder and is just left speechless.

(Back at Kagome's homeroom at her school before class starts)

Kagome's friends where looking at her empty chair and then Yuka says, "I wonder if she's sick again with something?" Eri says, "I don't know but I went by her home to see if she wanted to walk with me to school and no one was there." Yuka said, "Really? Didn't Kagome's Grandpa have anything to say?" Eri shakes her head and says, "No, not a living soul was there. It was just eerie because there is at least someone there." Just then Ayumi leans forward from her desk behind the two girls and says, "Weird, I wonder where everyone is?"

Just then Hojo came in looking rather upset and sits a few desks away but still within earshot of the three. He hears Ayumi making plans to go check on Kagome after school when he turns and says, "You haven't heard? About Kagome?" Eri, Ayumi and Yuka turn towards Hojo and says, "Heard about what?" they all nearly say in unison. Then Ayumi says, "What have you heard?" with Eri following close by, "Did you two have a fight?" and then Yuka saying, "Did she turn down another date?"

Hojo shakes his head and says, "Oh! I wish it were only such trivial things! Kagome is in the hospital right now!" which is followed by a very loud and in sync "WHAT???" by the three girls. The three girls abandon their seats and converge on Hojo's desk within a blink of an eye. "What's wrong with Kagome? Why's she in the hospital? How'd you find out? How long will she be in there for?" was the barrage of questions asked by Kagome's friends in such quick fashion that Hojo couldn't answer them, much less tell who was even asking and he quickly put his two hands up in a surrender fashion which the girls took as a sign to back off.

Hojo sighs and says, "I heard about it from a relative that works at the hospital, he told me he saw Kagome's mother, Sota, Grandpa, and some other strange friends of hers in the waiting room." This made the girls react, "Strange friends?? What friends? Who?" Hojo says, "I don't know! All I know is that they all showed up with Kagome, and haven't left the waiting room since!"

Ayumi is the first to ask, "How long ago was this?" Hojo thinks for a second, "I'd say about 9 hours ago." Eri says as she grabs at his arm sleeve, "What is wrong with her? Is she going to be ok?" and her eyes were a bit moist, nearly in tears. Hojo doesn't move and says to her, "I don't really know, I couldn't find out anything because I'm not family other than that her prognosis was very grim." All three of Kagome's friends were shocked and upset at the news and it was Ayumi who said, "What are we doing here? We should go lend Kagome our support! Are we not her best friends?!?" Eri then looks to Hojo, "What hospital did they go to?" with Ayumi and Eri joining in with a "Tell us!!" Hojo did the sweat drop thing before saying, "She's at Ojihiro Hospital" and with that the girls stormed out of the classroom, nearly colliding with the teacher who was about to walk into the classroom. "Hey! Where are you girls going? The class is about to start?" the teacher shouted after them. A fading Eri voice shouted back in answer, "Sorry! We're off to help Kagome!" and then the girls were gone then from sight.

(Back in the Feudal Era)

Kikyo walks through the forest, heading towards the village that her younger sister, now a old priestess there resides in. She knew something strange was going on and she couldn't feel Kagome yet, Kagome was pulling at her and drawing her strength little by little. She needed answers before she became too weak to do anything about it. She walks into the village and right up to her sister's home, slipping inside without saying a word.

Kikyo looks around the empty house and sees that it was once occupied by many people recently in low spirits. She could sense Inuyasha's presence and the others that Kagome was here with but Kagome's was the most puzzling, it was very weak, almost non-existent but then she spotted something that had she been mortal would have given her chills. She saw blood on the ground and judging from Inuyasha's feet prints on the ground, she knew that it was Inuyasha by her side.

She felt annoyed at Kagome getting the attention but also at the same time pleased to know that Inuyasha was all right. Kikyo walks up to where the spot of blood was and touched it, thinking "Strange... it seems like a there is barely any blood but I can feel that a lot has left her body, what has happened to her?" Being the powerful priestess that she once was, she turned her senses to trying to figure out what happened next but all she could tell was that emotions were high and that they took Kagome out of here rather quickly. "My younger sister couldn't help Kagome?" she thinks to herself and then thinks, "Where would they have taken Kagome?" before realization strikes her. "Of course, to Kagome's home... I remember how Kaede told me that she was from the future. They must have realized her time might be able to save her." Kikyo walks out of the small home and starts to walk back to the forest, heading towards Naraku's place with feelings of anger that show only through her eyes, "I will bet Naraku is behind this."

(At the cave of Midoriko)

Naraku stands at the entrance; gazing forward before looking down at the little white girl, Kanna holds her mirror in her hand. Naraku holds the jewel shard in one hand and says to her, "Stay close now" and starts to walk forward without waiting for a reply. She stays in step with him and then when they get close the shield shimmers into being which makes Naraku pause and say, "Take care of this Kanna."

Kanna steps forward and with her hands, she rotates her mirror so that it glows. The shield visibly shimmers and then seems to visibly struggle before it collapses. A bunch of Naraku's insects hover in the air behind the two and with a raised finger, Naraku sends thousands of them forward and with a loud buzzing sound, they fly into the tunnel. Many of the insects are destroyed even as Naraku and Kanna step forward, walking casually into the tunnel and stepping on the remains of the bugs before they are swept away out of the cave. A few of the insects remain on Naraku's clothes and seem untouched by what force destroys the rest.

Naraku steps forward into the cavern and sees the many demons and the powerful priestess that had apparently stood up to them all alone. Naraku's expression barely changes as he says, "What a foolish woman she was to take on so many demons. In the end, she fell and created this..." he holds up the jewel shard in his fingers and it starts to glow brightly. The demons in the cave start to rise up from the stone prisons and move towards Naraku's position. Naraku simply ignores them while Kanna steps forward with her hands rotating the mirror so that the arrows face up and down so that her mirror glows and starts suck in the spirits of the deceased demons into her mirror.

Naraku walks up until he is almost up to where Midoriko is and then breaks off a small piece of her that was covered by the stalactites a long time ago, preserving her perfectly. Naraku moves his face closer to her and says, "I want to thank you, without you and these other demons... none of this would have ever been possible." Before he turns and fails to see a tear form at one corner of the eye, but not enough to roll off her cheek and fall to the ground.

Naraku and Kanna leave the cave with the remaining insects buzzing around, hovering loyally around their master until they all have left the cave. The cave starts to emit a painful sound, almost like a wail, which Naraku ignores but catches Kanna's attention before Naraku summons up his usual method of travel and they all fly back towards his castle.


	8. Kagome! Friends! Chaos!

**Story by: Eric Lentz**

**Chapter Six: Kagome! Friends! Chaos! **

(Kagome's Time)

Inuyasha, his friends and Kagome's family were still waiting in the waiting room and just then the Inuyasha started to sniff, catching the attention of his friends with Miroku being the first to speak. "What is it Inuyasha?" to which he replies just as a familiar doctor appears into view, "He's here!" and leaps from his seat to which startles everyone in the room and he comes to land right in front of the doctor.

Dr. Yama gasps in surprise just as he had looked up from his clipboard to see Inuyasha appear from seemingly nowhere and grabbed. "Where is she? How is she?" Dr. Yama was so startled that all he could say was, "Wh-who? Who are you talking about?" This of course infuriated him after all the hours of worrying and he yells, "Kagome! I left you with her when we arrived!"

Just then Inuyasha felt a hand on his shoulder and thought it was one of his friends and looked to say something when he heard Kagome's mother say, "Please Inuyasha... let me." And with the look in her eyes that brought back flashbacks of his own mother, Inuyasha released the doctor and with a low grunt indicating that he wasn't happy but respected her enough to be the one to ask.

"Doctor, I am Ms. Higurashi. The mother of Kagome Higurashi and we admitted her to you about 9 hours ago." Her eyes looked brave and tearful at the same time, showing her heart fully. Dr. Yama got his senses back and said, "Oh yes! I remember, I was on my way to you as I have the results of the tests on Kagome."

Shippou ran up to in front of the doctor and said, "How is she? Is she alright?" with Kirara walking up to beside him and giving off a soft "Mew"

Sango stepped up beside Ms. Higurashi on her left and bent down to pick up Kirara and asks, "Were you able to help Kagome?" as she folds her right arm straight, holding Kirara in that arm while her left one hung along her side.

Miroku came up from behind as well and says, "Yes, How is Kagome? Did she get enough blood?"

Dr. Yama saw an old woman approach too but before she got too close he looked at the others and said, "Who are you all? Are you family?"

Kaede did get close enough to say, "We may not be of blood in family, but we be family nonetheless, every one of us here."

Inuyasha temper finally wins out and he yells, "Will you just tell us how Kagome is? Or do I have to beat it out of you?"

Miroku says, "Calm down Inuyasha, this won't help Kagome at all." Just then Ms. Higurashi reaches out and puts her hand one the doctor's holding the clipboard and says, "Please doctor, how is my daughter Kagome?"

Suddenly, as if on cue Kagome's three school friends come bursting into the Hospital and quickly spot her mother in the room since everyone had moved as far away from the large group as possible when Inuyasha started yelling. The three girls make a dash towards the group, with their speed as such that Sango and Inuyasha get ready for battle only to fall face first when they zoom around to Kagome's mother and the doctor, yelling "How's Kagome? Where is She? Can we see her yet?" in near stereo.

Dr. Yama looks at everyone and overwhelmed by all the questions before saying loudly, "Hold on everyone! I can't answer all of your questions if you don't give me a chance to talk!" This makes everyone pause in silence before Kagome's mother says, "Please go on doctor." And it is clear that everyone wants to know the answer one way or another.

Dr. Yama takes a breath and folds back the top sheet of his clipboard to glance down at something. "Well, it was touch and go for a while but I think we have her out of the out of danger right now... We'll know more in a few more hours." and flips another page before looking up to see various expressions on everyone's face.

It was Kagome's mother who first spoke and said, "Thank you doctor... is there any chance I could see her?" and gave the look that just tugged at your heartstrings. The doctor paused and then tucked the clipboard under his right arm before saying, "Very well, but I have to ask you to be quiet. She needs her rest to get her strength back." Then Dr. Yama starts to turn to guide her to Kagome's room before noticing that the rest of group was also going to follow.

Dr. Yama turns his head to the rest of the group to say, "I'm sorry but only the mother is allowed at the time to see her. There are just too many of you to see her right now. When Kagome regains consciousness I will let you all see her."

Inuyasha looked as if he was going to say something but a shaking head from Kagome's mother stopped him. Inuyasha let loose a low, frustrated growl and turned his head, seeing Sango and Miroku give him the silent look of understanding and he knew that if anyone knew how he was feeling, they would so he went quiet before saying, "Go then, but you let us know the moment that I can see Kagome alright?" Dr. Yama nods and looks at everyone else to see if they'll agree.

Miroku is the first to say, "Then we shall stay here and await until Kagome is well enough to see us." With Sango speaking next to say, "That's right, we've already waited this long. What's a few more hours?"

Inuyasha growls softly in their direction, "Easy for you to say..." Shippou speaks up and says, "Inuyasha! This is Kagome we're talking about! If letting her rest will help her, then I say we give it to her!" Swishing his little fox tail he says, "I know how you feel Inuyasha! I want to see Kagome as bad as you do!"

Inuyasha growls softly, "You don't know nothing kid, so shut up!" before bonking him on the head, which causes him to cry and run to Kaede where he proceeds to cling on her leg. "Waahhh! Inuyasha's being mean!" he cries up at Kaede.

Kagome's younger brother, Sota stood in front on Inuyasha and yelled, "You didn't need to do that Inuyasha! We all understand because we all feel that way!"

Inuyasha retorted, "Maybe that is so, but I'm the one who let whatever did this to get away!" Sota looked at Inuyasha with a look of someone who was glad and proud of some decision at the same time, "I'm glad you did so, you probably saved my sister's life!"

Inuyasha looked at the young boy, who was like Shippou in many ways but who also had his sister's strength and was surprised into silence and covered by crossing his arms and turning away, into the direction the doctor took Kagome's mother. Without even turning to look at anyone, he says, "I know... when I saw Kagome laying on the ground... so pale like that, a part of me wanted to go after it and destroy whatever did that to her." Inuyasha turns his eyes to look at the little boy still looking up at him, obviously surprised by the words and then he continues, "But I also knew I'd never forgive myself if anything happened because I wasted time chasing after it. So, I did the only thing I could and took her to the old bat."

Kaede looks visibly upset at the reference but other than a grumble she remains silent to let him talk. Inuyasha then turns his head while taking a step to turn more towards Sota to look him right in the eyes before then putting a hand gently onto Sota's shoulder. "I promise you this, after Kagome's better, I will personally take care of what did this to your sister... alright? Now wipe of those tears, because I am going to need your support for a while alright?"

Sota sniffles and nods his head before wiping at his eyes. "A-Alright Inuyasha..." he replies and looks at Inuyasha some more. Inuyasha says, "I want you to be the man of the house until Kagome is able to take care of herself ok?" Sota nods and says in a clearly proud voice "You can count on me!" In a somewhat low disbelieving voice, Grandpa says while pointing at himself, "Hey, I'm the man of the house!" to which everyone seems to ignore or simply not hear.

With Kagome's mother gone, everyone starts to return to sitting down except Kagome's friends who had just arrived and didn't have a place to sit. Yuka, Eri and Ayumi start to whisper where they are standing in a huddle even as they glance at Inuyasha where he sits with the sword in his hands. However low they whispered though, Inuyasha could hear every word they said about him and the others.

Yuka whispered as she furtively glanced at Inuyasha, "Hey Ayumi, do you suppose that's him? The one with the sword?"

Ayumi looks at Inuyasha and whispers, "You mean the one Kagome loves? He sure seems to fit what she says about him."

Inuyasha blushed a little while trying to pretend not to listen but his ears flicked as he laid in the chair with his eyes closed but his mind was racing, "Kagome loves me!" were his thoughts silently to himself.

Just then, Miroku appears into the Ayumi's view while rubbing her rear with a hand that causes her to yell in surprise and slap him hard! Sango sighs and gets up from her chair even as he says, "Hello ladies, I take it you go to the same school as Kagome?" with his cheek obviously glowing from the slap to the face and trying to pretend that it never happened.

Eri replies to Miroku's question, "Yeah we do, how do you know her you pervert?" while pointing a finger right at his face. This causes Miroku to rub the back of his head with a hand and says, "I'm a monk, not a pervert..." and Sango who is standing by Miroku's side says with glaring eyes, "That's a matter of opinion." Yuka leans forward and says, "Who are you people? How do you know Kagome?" looking at both Miroku and Sango before saying, "And why do you dress so weird?"

Kaede stands up and says, "It matters not why we dress as we do, what is important now is that we support Kagome in her time of need. Ye are Kagome's friends are ye not?" Ayumi nods and says, "Yeah we are! We're her best friends from school!"

Eri looked at Kaede and says, "You're right Priestess, but we've known Kagome for just about forever and I've never met any of you." Kaede nods and says, "Where are my manners, I am Priestess Kaede and my companions here are Miroku the monk whom ye have met and besides him is Sango."

Sango nods to the girls and they seem to scrutinize her before group whispering, "She looks strange, why do you suppose she has such a large weapon?" whispers Ayumi.

Eri whispers, "I don't know, but do you think they're for real?" Yuka whispers back, "I don't know, but what's Kagome doing hanging out with such an old Priestess and a Monk?"

Ayumi whispers, "I don't know, lets find out." The girls turn back and Ayumi says, "How did you meet Kagome Priestess?" and Kaede nods before replying, "I met Kagome at the Sacred Tree where she also met Inuyasha over there." Pointing to him with her staff. This causes a shocked reaction in all three, "That's INUYASHA??" as they nearly say in stereo. The three girls zip over to Inuyasha and closely look at him, which starts to annoy him to no ends.

Inuyasha says, "Yeah!? What do you want?" in a growling way, obviously annoyed. Ayumi is the first to reach up to his silver ears and says, "Are those real?" and tugs at them much like Kagome had once before. Eri asks, "Are you really Inuyasha? The one Kagome loves?" and before Inuyasha can reply Yuka asks, "Where were you when Kagome was hurt? Do you know what happened to her?" Eri sees what Ayumi's up to and seems to forget her question as she says, "How cute! Are those ears real?" and starts to feel Inuyasha's ears much like Ayumi had a few moments before.

Miroku says to Sango, "This does not bode well, I fear for those girls." While he watches the scene before him where Inuyasha is. Sango says, "You're right, we should put a stop to this." But before they can walk over to there, Shippou runs up to the feet of the girls and says, "Hey! Leave Inuyasha alone! Can't you tell he's upset by what happened to Kagome?"

Yuma looks down and little hearts float in front of her eyes, "Ohhhhh! How cute!" This gets the attention of the other two and they all kneel and start to pet or hug Shippou as if he was some kind of pet. Shippou tries to squirm or bat at their hands while telling them to back off, but they ignore him blinded by his cuteness. Yuma scoops up Shippou and gives him a big hug, rubbing her cheek against him "Ohhh, he is so cute I could just eat him up!" and then Eri runs her hand over the foxtail, "What a cute tail! It is so soft and furry, I could run my fingers over it for hours." Shippou tries to move his tail away from Eri but she keeps managing to grab it.

Inuyasha looks at the girls and back off slowly with a sweat drop on his head while thinking "Man, these girls are scary! And they're Kagome's friends? No wonder she could deal with demons easily when we first met. They probably seem tame after dealing with the likes of them!"

Meanwhile poor Shippou was getting quite fed up and managed to leap up from the girls and used some of his fox magic to scare the girls enough so that he could escape and run behind the nearby Sango's leg.

Sota ran up to the girls and says, "Hey, leave Shippou alone! He doesn't like what you were doing to him!" and stands his ground even as Yuma says, "But he's so cute for a fox!" and gets agreements from the other two girls as well. "How would you like it if some strange people hand their hands all over you? Tugging at your clothes, and tail and petting you as if you were some kind of pet?" Yuma and the other two look visibly upset and they go into where they imagine it for a brief moment, with only one of them blushing redly by the end of it.

Just then Inuyasha said in a serious voice, "They're back" to no one in particular but it immediately grabs everyone's attention and they see Kagome's mother and the doctor walking back to the group. The sight of them combined with the way her face looked made everyone fall into a hushed silence where they all had a million questions on their mind but none dared to ask, lest they disturb her thoughts.

Shippou was the first to approach when she stops before the group and asks Kagome's mother, "How is Kagome??" and looks up at her with worried eyes. She looks down at the little fox child and says, "She has some of her color back but she..." she trails off, fighting off tears. Shippou hugs her leg and looks up at her, waiting to hear the rest as does everyone else. Inuyasha looks at her and just silently watches, feelings of guilt and anger at how this happened run through him. She looks up and says, "She... Kagome will be ok. It is just hard seeing her laying like that, still so pale and sleeping like a little angel." She brings her hand up to her face and holds back a sniffle before she continues, "It will be some time before Kagome will be up to doing anything... I suggest we all go home and get some rest..." and turns, closing her eyes and walks off in the direction of the exit for the hospital but it isn't long before her walks become a bit faster and she rushes out the doors where she cries some while collapsing against the wall by the doors.

Inuyasha, and everyone else is still standing where they were and he can hear Kagome's mother crying, every sob impacting upon Inuyasha's heart.

Dr. Yama looks at the group and says, "I'm sorry everyone, but visiting hours are now over, you'll have to come back during visiting hours. Don't worry, I know Kagome will pull through she seems to have an amazingly strong will... I could tell that when we were working on saving her life."

Miroku is the first to say anything, "When... are the visiting hours?" seeming to be in a little bit of a daze as he seems heavy in thoughts. Everyone seems to be having their own thoughts in worry, especially after seeing the mother's face.

Dr. Yama tells the visiting hours and invites them all to come back but the group is hesitant to start moving out. Even the lively girls didn't want to leave the building but slowly they all start moving towards the exit and by the time they reach the exit Kagome's mother had noticed their approach and quickly dried up her tears but the remains still showed in her red eyes.

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Author's Note: I was going to write more but I figured this was a good place to stop. I'll start working on the next Chapter now. Tune to the Inuyasha Channel for more exciting stuff to happen! Anyway, sorry this took so long, but this is probably the longest chapter I've written and it was much longer than I thought it'd be. To those who asked for me to hurry up and post, (You know who you are) thanks for staying on my tail (and not shippou's, ouch!) it kept me me on the ball. :)


	9. Season of Evil Approaches!

**Story by: Eric Lentz**

**Chapter Seven: Season of Evil Approaches!**

(Feudal Era)

(Inuyasha Forest)

Kikyo was making her way through the forest with her collectors floating by, holding some souls within their little clutches in case she needed any to help keep her in the world. It was only by surviving off the souls of others that she could remain, and in her thoughts she wanted to remain in the world because of Inuyasha and Naraku, each for different reasons.

(Naraku's Barrier)

She continued her way out of the forest and towards Naraku's area and comes across his very strong barrier. Looking at the barrier she thinks to herself about just how much the barrier has grown in strength since the last time she visited Naraku and wonders how this is possible. Before she can do anything further, she senses something or someone on the fringe of her senses and looks around slowly, carefully without looking like she is looking. Whatever it was seems to have decided she was of no interest as it fades away and with the barrier as strong as it was she could not get in even with her power.

Kikyo stares up at the barrier for a few more moments while deciding something and then she slowly turns to go investigate whatever it was that she sensed since she could do nothing further at Naraku's as long as the barrier was up and she doubted that Naraku would see her if he could see the anger upon her face.

(Elsewhere)

A woman with a snake resting on her shoulders walks on, with her tail lightly drifting up and down with each step that she takes until she stands at the top of a hill and looks down at a village in ruins. Once she sees this, her hand clenches and foxfire erupts around her body in clear anger and the snake looks up from its slumber to look down at the ruined village and gives a hiss in its direction before looking at her. The foxfire slowly settles down, fading away into nothingness before she starts to walk forward again and towards the small village.

Once she sees the village, she sees people she doesn't recognize trying to rebuild the ruined village and sees that the village was heavily damaged by lightning or lightning attacks. As she walks through the village she decides that the damage is too precise for normal lightning and even though she gets stares and a few people hiding themselves and their children, for the most part they seem too tired to do much with her presence.

She walks up to where she once lived with her husband and child and stands before a building that is little more than rubble as all that's left is the debris of house's walls and a charred roof's remains sitting inside. It is apparent to her that no one has tried to rebuild or even touch the place at all.

She starts to visibly shake and yells "Foxfire!" and sends a powerful burst of magical fire to destroy the roof's remains and unbury anything... or anyone that might have been under it. She relaxes as she sees that there are no bodies under it and then she starts to wonder, where they are if they're not here and why haven't they returned to the home if they've survived?

Just then she hears a voice say, "Hello there" and spins around prepared to use her magic to defend herself and finds only the old village leader before her and one of the few people she had recognized as she had walked through the ruined village. The Elder looks at her with sad eyes and says, "It has been some time since you've been back to our village Midoro. I'm sorry it has to be under these circumstances."

Midoro looks at him and the woman standing next to him, supporting his right arm, which was bandaged up and says, "What happened here? It looks like a battlefield."

The Village Elder nods and says, "We were attacked by some demons who took sport in attacking our village." Midoro grits her teeth in anger and then says through clenched teeth, "What demons? When?" The Village Elder leans upon the younger woman and says, "I don't know, but I'm only sorry that they didn't stop before..." and he trails off looking a bit weak.

The woman next to him and says, "Are you all right Elder? Do you need to sit?" The Elder nods and says, "Yes Aoi, I think I do" and with the assistance of the woman, starts to turn towards a nearby home that looked in fairly decent shape compared to the rest of the village.

"Wait! Finish what you said Elder, before what!?" Midoro nearly yells and restrains herself from grabbing at him.

The Elder says, "Come with me, I'll tell you all inside." And he starts to walk slowly to the home with Midoro following and burning with a desire to know. They walk into the home that was obviously still in the midst of repairs and when the Elder and Aoi sit down and she joins them while looking a bit anxious with her tails swishing nervously over the ground and stirring up some dust. The Village Elder sighs softly and says, "Aoi, will you please get me some tea?" and she says, "Yes, Elder" before she gets up and leaves to fetch some water. The Village Elder looks at her and says, "I wish you had not been gone for so long..."

Midoro looks at him and says, "Please, tell me..." her eyes looking fearful as she looks at him while he meets her eyes long enough to see the fear and then looks down at the ground for a few moments before looking back up to meet her eyes. Midoro continues by saying, "What has happened to my husband and child?"

The Village Elder says, "I don't quite know how to say this my dear, so I'll come right out and tell you." After a deep breath he continues, "Your husband I'm afraid is no more. He perished defending the village and your child from the lightning demons." Trembling she asks, "What of my child?" Shaking his head slowly side to side the Village Elder says, "Sadly, I do not know the answer to that. He disappeared after your husband fell to the two demons."

Midoro growled as she said, "What of the demons? What happened to them?" and just then Aoi came back with the tea and set some down in front of the Village Elder, "Here you go Elder." Aoi looks at Midoro and says, "Would you like some tea too?" and when Midoro shakes her head, she returns to sitting by the Elder's side in case she is needed.

The Elder looks at Midoro, "They continued their destruction of our village until there was hardly anyone left and few homes remained standing. I have heard that one of them took your husband and made a fox stole out of him after his defeat."

Midoro's tails moved about very angrily in quick, sharp movements but as angry as she was, her thoughts were in worry about her child. Midoro thought to herself, "I should have been here, together we might have been able to defeat these demons and my son wouldn't have to be alone."

The Elder continued saying, "Fortunately the demons have not since returned. I've heard rumors that they terrorized other villages, destroyed two armies and much more before things have gone silent about any news about them." Nodding his head in thought, the Elder looks at Midoro and can guess that she was thinking of both revenge and worry over her child, he knew she loved the child dearly but her clan leader had summoned her when her child was very young and she had to go. "Perhaps the demons have been defeated, but I am sorry that I can not offer you any more news on your child. All I know for certain is that he has not returned to the village, since the demons took his father from him." Says in a comforting tone as Midoro visibly shakes with her hands clenched tightly and looks down at the ground with tears falling freely from her face.

Aoi looks at the two of them with sad eyes and a heavy heart as she had been the one taking care Midoro's son when the demons attacked and noticed that the Elder had not mentioned it, perhaps to spare her from Midoro's feelings and she trusted that the Elder knew best so she remained silent but a part of her wished to tell Midoro how sorry she was for not being able to keep her son from running off after the demons after they defeated her husband because of her own injuries that she had sustained during the demons attack.

(Within Naraku's Barrier)

Naraku is watching a scene unfold on Kanna's mirror and watches the whole scene where Midoro walks home to discover that something happened to her family. Naraku continues to watch the glowing mirror as Midoro cries and although there is little change in the face, Naraku's eyes grow more evil looking with a red glow to them and he says, "Hmm, I think know just how to use this..." while a couple feet away, some jars glow strangely and some distorted forms that look unnatural seem to be moving, twisting about within them as if alive but not yet at the same time.

Kagura comes in and says, "Naraku, Kikyo is outside the barrier. What should I do?" In a somewhat calm voice although there was an edge to it that spoke of her underlying feelings to the situation or the woman just outside the barrier.

Naraku tilts his head forward and says to Kanna, "Show me" and within moments Kikyo is visible within the mirror. Kikyo's face is clearly not one of its normal calmness but one of frustration and Naraku knew that what it really meant was that Kikyo was quite mad and if she'd come to his castle that meant one of two things. Kikyo either was planning on enlisting his aid in something or blamed him for something and came to confront him about it. He thought about his choices but it seemed that Kikyo to make her own decision and turned her back upon the barrier and started to walk off. Naraku looks at Kikyo's departing figure and says, "Leave her be, for now..." and turns his attention to the two jars sitting a few feet away. "She will be dealt with when the time comes." He finishes saying with Kagura thinking to herself with her eyes narrowing just a notch, "Naraku, you're such a fool... Kikyo will one day be your downfall because you still love her and when that day comes, I'll be free."

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Author's Note: I know, I know what you're all going to say and all I can say is... Keep reading my chapters and give me more reviews! The more I get, the more often I write! LOL! :)  
Don't read any further if you don't want any hidden clues to upcoming stuff...  
Now for the real notes, Naraku is just going to get more and more evil, involve more people and if you think I'm done with Kagome simply because she's in a hospital you have another thing coming! The contents of the jars and how they will impact everyone will be huge but you know Naraku, that's not ALL he's ever got planned since any good trickster always has another thing up his sleeve.  



	10. The Beginning of a Season of Evil!

**Story by: Eric Lentz**

**Chapter Eight: The Beginning...**

(Kagome's Time)

(At Kagome's Home)

Kagome's mother was cooking dinner with Sango's help while everyone else was in the living room, sitting silently as they waited.

Inuyasha looked around and was glad that Kagome's school friends had left because they had really started to get on his nerves. Inuyasha looked at Miroku who seemed to be meditating across from him while Sato was introducing Shippou to a videogame in the corner.

Suddenly Miroku opened his eyes and said, "Inuyasha" to which Inuyasha irritably growled, "Yeah, Miroku?"

Miroku seemed to look at Inuyasha as if gauging his next words to his friend. "Inuyasha, I have been thinking about the attack on Kagome." To which Inuyasha growled at his friend, "Yeah, I know Miroku! It is all my fault!" Inuyasha stood up and said, "Say it! That's what you're thinking and you'd be right! I should have met her at the well!"

Miroku raised both of his hands in silent surrender and said, "That isn't what I meant Inuyasha. I simply meant that I think whoever did this to Kagome did this for more than just to kill her." This made Inuyasha pause in posture and say, "What do you mean?"

Miroku lowered his hands slowly to grab his staff with one hand and stands it up with the rings jingling lightly at the top. "Think about it Inuyasha, anything that wanted Kagome dead could have done so long before any of us got there. The fact that Kagome had her blood drained from her and with none of it upon her clothes tells me that whatever drained her took every drop it could into itself, which leads me to ask a very important question."

Miroku stands up and looks at Inuyasha in the eyes with a fierceness that showed his determination to make his point across very clearly. "What does someone want with Kagome's blood and why not Kagome?"

Inuyasha clearly frustrated and still in grief and guilt over what happened to Kagome yelled, "How should I know?" and then suddenly a memory came to him. Inuyasha then clenched his hands very tightly, with his arms shaking in his fury as his eyes met Miroku's and he said in a still, quiet tone that failed to hide his feelings, "Miroku... Do you think it could be Kikyo?" and with a shaking of his head Miroku answers, "It is possible, but I think it must be more likely to be Naraku since he has the resources to do something like this without attracting Kagome's attention until it was too late."

Shippou came over having heard the conversation from the beginning and said, "It's gotta be Naraku! Kikyo wouldn't hurt Kagome because that'd be like hurting herself!" and then Sato walked up from behind Shippou to tug at Inuyasha's sleeve to ask as he looked up at him with eyes of sadness and admiration, "Inuyasha, I've heard of Naraku from Kagome and he sounds like a real bad demon, but how did he drain the blood from her? I didn't know he had that kind of power."

Upon the asking of that question everyone seemed to do a double-take, with Inuyasha not knowing the answer and looked to Miroku while Shippou thought about it and put a finger on his chin as he looked up at the ceiling to say, "Come to think of it Naraku has never shown that he could drain blood before." And then looked at Inuyasha who then looked at Miroku to say, "You don't suppose that Naraku has a new power do you?"

Miroku shook his head after a few moments in deep thought, "I don't think so, and if that is the case then it must have been some demon that we don't know of that Naraku probably hired." Miroku looked around the room meeting Shippou, Sato, and Inuyasha's eyes as he continued, "If we can find that demon, we just might be able to persuade it to tell us where Naraku is."

Inuyasha growled, "Forget that! Once I meet that demon I'm going to destroy it for hurting Kagome!"

Miroku raised his free hand since his other was holding the staff and says, "We'll discuss that when the time comes, but for now I think that this should stay between us men for now."

Just then, Sango and Kagome's Mother came in carrying in dinner for everyone and Sango was first so she caught the end where Miroku had said, "Between us men for now" and said, "What is between you men?" before she narrowed her eyes in suspicion at Miroku who looked rather nervous suddenly. Miroku heh's nervously and says, "Oh nothing, we were just agreeing not to talk in any way to upset you two." Sato chimed in and said, "Yeah! And I'm man of the house after all! It is my duty to protect the women!"

Normally this would have made Sango burn with anger since she was a very strong woman, but something about Sato reminded her of her own younger brother and how he acted stronger than he believed himself to be. Sango smiled and says, "With a strong guy like you around, I know I can relax and know everything's going to be ok." Inuyasha and Miroku both were very shocked while Shippou was just puzzled by their reactions.

Kagome's Mother was smiling though it was a somewhat forced smile for the sake of her son and her daughter's friends, "Now that's settled, how about we eat?" Shippou and Sato yelled "Yeah! I'm starving!" and rushed to the table to sit on the cushions.

(Feudal Era)

(Within Naraku's Barrier)

Naraku grinned as a jar glowed and a hand starts to stick out, grabbing one of the jar's edges before another hand sticks out the grab the other end and it isn't long before it pushes itself out of the jar so hard that the huge blob that the hands come from land on the ground nearby with Naraku watching. The blob seems to start to take form, and as the blob slowly shrinks and a human form begins to take shape, Naraku gets ready the clothes that the new 'child' will wear.

The second jar begins to glow brightly, rattling around a little before it starts to crack with brilliant light seeping through until two hands just like before stick out of the jar to join the sibling blob on the floor, even as it seems to pulse with more energy than the other blob to its right. Naraku starts to chuckle evilly for a few moments before he thinks to himself, "At last, my plans are starting to bear fruit" and chuckles a few more moments at his own private joke there.

(Kagome's time at the time of the jar's creatures popping out)

(Kagome's hospital room)

Kagome starts to stir, her body taking an eerie glow of supernatural white light and an pained expression is upon her face as if struggling in pain. The EKG and EEG devices that she's hooked up to take note of her increased heart rate and mental activity but they fail to show what she is suffering spiritually.

The sharp increase in all that activity gets the attention of the Night Nurse at the hospital who punches in a button and runs into the room to gasp in shock as she sees Kagome hovering in mid-air with the bed sheets half off of her hovering body which has to be a good 5 feet over the bed.

However, the hovering accompanied by the eerie white light that surrounded her body slowly fades and she slowly lowers until about 3 feet where she just drops back onto the bed as if she hadn't just been defying gravity.

Before the Night Nurse can get over her shock the doctor she had summoned comes in through the doorway to see her just standing there with a stupor on her face and then says, "What's the situation nurse?"

The Night Nurse looks at the doctor and raises a hand, but isn't able to speak for a few moments before she can finally say, "She was showing rapid elevated mental and heart rate activity Doctor so I came in here to check on her and." She trails off there wondering how she can possibly explain what she saw without sounding like a nutcase.

Fortunately she didn't have to because that's when the doctor walked over to check on the patient having grown impatient with the nurse. The doctor finds that Kagome's vital stats are falling even though they were still in dangerously high levels for someone in her condition. He yells, "Nurse Mu! Get me... "(ok, here I've reached the limits of my medical knowledge so just imagine him yelling a bunch of medical orders... we resume your regularly scheduled program now)

Kagome has come down from her dangerous levels and is now resting peacefully on her bed even though it seemed to the doctor that she never once woke up from her ordeal. The doctor did a quick check on her and determined that she wasn't in a coma but just in a real deep sleep so he only partially worried about why she didn't wake up. Before he could ponder any further on it, he heard a page for him and rushed out of the room leaving a very puzzled nurse who stared at Kagome for a while before she got the shivers and quickly walked out of the room, keeping a very close eye on Kagome's room for the rest of her shift.

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Author's Notes: Sorry I took so long, I've been sick (still sick in fact) Anyway, if any of you know what a doctor would have said at that point, go ahead and tell me in email or review and I'll adjust it with credit to you in my notes. :) I know that some of you want Kagome out but give a gal time to recover ok? She will get out and when she does... well only I know what will happen next chuckles So please review and rate! I'd love to hear what you guys thought of it! :)


	11. Kagome Awakens

**Story by: Eric Lentz**

**Chapter Nine: Kagome Awakens**

(Kagome's time)

(At the Hospital)

It was almost a week after that incident when Kagome was recovered enough for the doctors to allow Kagome's friends to visit her. The very moment that Kagome was allowed to have visitors, Inuyasha and the gang went to visit her even though unbeknownst to the doctors. Inuyasha had been visiting her room from the window by either climbing to her room or using Kirara to fly up to her and look at her through the window. Inuyasha would never touch her; he would though just watch her for all he wanted was to be close to Kagome as he could. Sango and Miroku both figured out where Inuyasha was disappearing to for hours very early on and both fully understood so they didn't say anything and just let him be.

The doctor came in and said, "Who would like to go first? I can only allow two at a time and only for a about 15 minutes, I don't want to overtax her." Inuyasha looked pained with guilt but he said, "Let someone else go first..." and Kagome's Mother said, "Are you sure Inuyasha?" and he simply nodded softly before turning his back to her. At this point, Miroku said, "I'll go." And Sango spoke up and said, "I'll go too." The doctor nods and says, "Come with me, I'll guide you to Kagome's room."

When Sango and Miroku walked in through the door to see Kagome, she looked better than she had when they brought her in but at the same time she still looked quite pale. Kagome opened her eyes and met her friends with a relieved look but with something in her eyes that got their attention immediately.

Kagome's eyes looked at them from tired eyes, eyes in pain that silently asked for help as if she could barely find the strength. Sango and Miroku had traveled with Kagome long enough to get to know her very well and knew that she was one of the strongest women that they've ever met. The doctor said, "Please remember not to overtax her, she still needs her rest." And with that the doctor left to give them some privacy.

Miroku and Sango approached Kagome, and leaned over her with Sango softly saying, "Kagome? Are you alright?" while Miroku took a good long look at Kagome and said, "Something's wrong with her spiritual powers, I can sense it."

Sango looked at Kagome for a few seconds and nods, "But its unlike anything I've ever seen. What could be causing it?"

Miroku held his right hand with the staff over Kagome's head and his left hand over her body high enough that Sango wouldn't get upset and did a strong spiritual scan of her which normally would have been impossible with Kagome's own strong spiritual powers but as low and weird as they were he was finding it quite easy.

Sango looked at Miroku and said, "Anything Miroku?" knowing that his powers were more sensitive and stronger than hers.

Miroku stayed silent but his face showed intense focus with an eyebrow twitching up and down and sweat started to form upon his forehead.

Sango stayed quiet and looked down at Kagome. Kagome closed her eyes as she seemed to be struggling against something and she softly seemed to say something since her lips were moving but neither one could hear what she was saying until Sango leaned very close to where her ear was practically upon Kagome's lips and all she could hear was Kagome whispering by breath only, "Stop... Stop her please... Stop her please Sango... Naraku...is..." but the strain of even saying that was too much for her and she passed out.

Sango got immediately worried over her friend who was as close to her as a sister and reached out to grip her shoulders as she yelled, "Kagome! Wake up!" This was enough to get her to wake up but she couldn't say anything more other than her eyes seemed to reflect her desire to say something more, to warn her friends.

Sango looks down at her friends and takes her hands off her shoulders to say, "It is ok Kagome, you get your strength back and you can tell us then." Before she exhales from a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding when Kagome passed out.

Miroku suddenly stopped what he was doing and said to Sango; "Somehow someone or something has tapped into Kagome's strong spiritual powers and cleaved them in half. If she doesn't get help soon, she is going to be weak as a kitten and might even do irreversible damage to her mind. I sense also that the effect is being enhanced by demon magic.

Sango remembered one of Kagome's words and said, "Naraku, he's behind this." She then meets Miroku's eyes and says, "Isn't there anything you can do for Kagome?"

Miroku closes his eyes after staring at Kagome and thinks, "There might be a thing or two I could try, but it might hurt her in the process." They both look down at Kagome and with a nod of her eyes, they understand and then with a heavy sigh, "I only can hope that Inuyasha will forgive me for what I am about to do." Sango says in reply to comfort Miroku, "Don't worry, I've got your back Miroku."

Miroku simply nods and brings out some very special sutras and starts to chant which causes his whole body to start glowing with the paper in his hand glowing the brightest until it is more light than paper in his hand. Miroku throws the glowing paper down at Kagome's forehead and there is a flash of light that emanates through the whole room blinding everyone with Miroku's thoughts as the light overwhelms him, "I didn't realize Kagome was so strong!" before both Sango and Miroku pass out from the brilliant light.

Only 2 minutes pass before Miroku, then Sango wake up and stand up and quickly move to Kagome's side to look down at her with Sango first saying, "Kagome! Are you alright?!" Kagome slowly opens her eyes and then she smiles for the first time since they both entered the room. Kagome softly says, "Thank you, my friends..." and they both smile.

(Feudal Era)  
(Within Naraku's Barrier)

Naraku looked at the two new forms sitting in front of him and had a grin as the plan was proceeding smoothly before one of them started to howl loudly and clutch at her head for a few moments as she glowed very brightly and seemed to lift up for a few seconds before she then settled down. Her power within seemed to be struggling within her despite Naraku's demon sorcery and this made the expression upon Naraku's face darken in anger.

When she settled down she looked at him with her own anger and said, "She's found a way to stop me for now. It can't last forever. Her power will be mine." And with that she settles down in front of Naraku again. Naraku turns his eyes to look at the other figure before him and sees that the strong spiritual powers within that one are unaffected so he then stands up and says, "Get some rest you two, we will begin at sunrise tomorrow." To which both of them get big evil grins that match Naraku's in evil look.

Naraku walks out of the room and casts a barrier over the room before walking down the corridor and sees Kanna so he walks up to her and says, "Come with me, I wish to see something..." and with a quiet nod she turns to follow Naraku to another room.

(Kagome's Time)

(At the Hospital)

Dr. Yama is in the room with Kagome and much to his dismay he was feeling very crowded in the small room where Kagome lay in her bed. As he checked Kagome's blood pressure and rate he felt the eyes of Inuyasha, Miroku and Sango along with Kagome's Mother. Dr. Yama didn't know why but he felt best to be on his best behavior for there was a sense that something big happened and recently from the way Miroku and Sango were acting. Whatever happened, the others might have been told but, not everything was explained for the sense wasn't as strong and there was one thing that Dr. Yama had learned in all his years of being a doctor and that was to trust his sense for it had served him well and saved more lives than he could count. He knew one thing for certain; it all centered on Kagome and so he smiled to Kagome in his nicest smile that he could manage as he talked to her, keeping his voice friendly.

Inuyasha never liked sitting around and healing, that was the one thing he liked the most about being half-demon, it allowed him to push past his pain and to heal quickly with little or no scars. Inuyasha didn't like seeing Kagome sitting in the bed when she could be up and doing something, like going after whatever demon that did this. Inuyasha stood in the room with his arms crossed, his senses very alert even as he watched and waited for the news on Kagome's recovery.

Sango and Miroku stood as close to Kagome's bed as allowed by the doctor at the insistence of Kagome, occasionally looking at each other and doing the eye-talk to each other. Sango was thought at Miroku, "What happened to Kagome?" and Miroku thought, "I don't know, I have never seen anything like what happened to Kagome." Sango and Miroku would look at Kagome who seemed to be in good and healthy spirits as if it had never happened. However, something had happened that was not yet fully understood for the time being it had been agreed that Kagome would be watched carefully to see if there were any aftereffects.

Kagome was smiling and joking with the doctor, as he would talk to her so nicely, which made her feel all the better despite the strangeness recently. Kagome for some strange reason felt so full of... to put for a better word, happiness which was like a bright light within her. She had never felt so happy, so secure. It was as if the weight that she'd always carried and never knew had been lifted from her but strangely enough a small part of her wanted that weight back as if somehow she felt like that she needed it. Kagome smiled at Inuyasha who looked surprised at how happy and lively she was being, but she didn't care and beamed at her other friends in the same room as her.

Dr. Yama finished his check up of Kagome and said, "Well Kagome I must say you're an amazing girl, you came in here on the brink and now it seems that you've just about made a full recovery!" Dr. Yama straightens up and turns to Kagome's Mother and says, "I'd like to keep her for another day of observation but if you want, I don't see any reason why she can't go home as long as she gets her rest there."

Kagome's Mother looked at Dr. Yama with a smile and nods, "Yes Doctor, I would like to take Kagome home, can she go now?" Dr. Yama nods, "Just give me a few minutes to check her out and I'll be right back." Kagome's Mother nods and says, "I'll be right here." And then walks over to her daughter to take her hand into hers who just smiles big at her mother and says, "I can't wait to go home Mom!" while almost bouncing in the bed in excitement. Kagome's Mother smiles and nods "When the doctor comes back we'll go home." She then turns to Inuyasha and Miroku, "You two, leave the room please. Kagome needs to get dressed."

Miroku nods and says, "Ok, but we'll be right outside if you should need anything." So then Miroku turns to walk out ahead of Inuyasha and then stands with his back to the wall.

Inuyasha nods to Kagome's Mother and walks out the door but stands right outside of it while watching the corridor for anything strange and waiting for the doctor to return so he can watch over Kagome better at her house. Inuyasha flicked his ears as he listened to everything and could hear even Kagome's Mother talk to Kagome within the room as she got dressed. He even heard Sango as she talked to Kagome and even though she kept reassuring that she was feeling great and that she was ok, Inuyasha knew that something was wrong. Kagome never acted like this, yet her scent was Kagome's with something off about it. It was irking Inuyasha that he couldn't figure out what was wrong with Kagome.

Miroku turned to look at Inuyasha and said, "Inuyasha, does Kagome seem alright to you?" getting right to the point as he could plainly see on Inuyasha's face the answer.

Inuyasha frowned and lightly shook his head as if trying to hear his mind before answering, "I'm not sure. She seems too happy for someone who's been through what she has been through." Miroku nods and says, "That is true, I find her behavior most puzzling."

Inuyasha stared at Miroku before saying, "I can't quite put my finger on it, but something is missing from her and it is affecting her scent." Miroku raised his eyebrows and then said, "Affecting her scent? In what way?" Inuyasha turned sharply back to the corridor and says, "I don't know! It just seems off for her, like it is her but at the same time it feels as if a piece is missing from it."

Miroku frowns and crosses his arms, going into deep thought with the staff he carries still in one hand before thinking, "Inuyasha has confirmed something that I've suspected but the big question what was taken? Kagome's lost parts of her soul before and it has never affected her like this. No, I suspect something else was taken from her."

Miroku turns his head towards the room where Kagome is and thinks, "Kagome is too carefree and not like herself." Then it hits him, "Could it be? Could Kagome have lost what makes up all human beings?" Leaning upon his staff a little in the sudden weakness at what the realization brings him before straightening up and looking at Inuyasha and thinking, "Inuyasha will eventually figure it out, and when he does he'll be a force to be reckoned with when he finds out. I must figure out a way to help Kagome before that happens." Glancing at Kagome's room he adds in thought, "If she even wants that part of her back that is, after all she is much more happy now."  
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An: Kagome is going home! So the next chapter will have her there. For all the people (you know who you are) that wanted her home, you got your wish! I'm sure some of you know what Kagome's missing already. Please review!


	12. Kagome? Kikyo?

**Story by: Eric Lentz**

**Chapter Ten: Kagome?? Kikyo??**

(Kagome's Time)

(At Kagome's Home)

Almost everyone was in the living room, the only ones who weren't was Kagome and her mother. Upon arrival of the home Kagome's Mother thought best that Kagome go and lay down and take it easy for a while.

Kagome's Mother says, "Now you lay down and I'll call you when it is time for supper ok, Kagome?" Being the cheerful girl, Kagome smiled brightly at her mother and says "Sure!" and lays down onto the bed and Mmm's happily, "It sure feels good to be able to sleep in my own bed again."

Kagome then turns her head and says, "Thanks Mom for getting me home!" and nuzzles her pillow for a few moments while her mother covers her with the blankets. "Sweet dreams Kagome" Kagome's Mother says to Kagome before turning to leave and closes the door quietly. Heading back to the living room she sees all of Kagome's friends that she's heard so much about from Kagome and having met all them in person, she knows that Kagome has grown much as a woman in the time she's met them. Looking at Shippou and Sota talking together with Miroku and Sango talking privately near the entrance to the kitchen, she looks over to Inuyasha who meets her look for a few moments and as if he says "I'm Sorry" to her from his eyes, he turns to look downward and she can tell he wants to protect her even now in her own home. Still something was nagging at her and she raises a finger up to her lips in thought, "Kagome's never been this cheerful about going to bed before... I wonder if she's truly alright."

Sango approached Kagome's Mother and says, "How is Kagome?" and when dressed in her regular clothes, she looked so might like a regular young woman much like her own daughter. When she had seen Sango in her demon-fighting outfit at the hospital after something had happened involving her, she had looked so much more grown up and more serious.

Shaking her head, Kagome's Mother replied, "She is quite happy to be out of the hospital and I think that she's already asleep." And gave a soft smile to help relax Sango who seemed unsure of what she was told. Clearing her throat loudly enough to catch the attention of everyone in the room, she said, "Kagome's resting now and I'd like you all to keep it down if you can so we don't wake her up, can we please?" Kagome's Mother saw and heard everyone nod or agree to be quiet.

Kagome's Mother steps more into the room and says, "Is anyone hungry? I could make something for everyone." Since it was close to lunchtime, everyone nodded and a few suggestions here and there were made as to what they'd like.

(Feudal Era)

(At the edge of the Raimei Valley)

Ahead lay a valley with a strong miasma that created lots of lightning clouds, looking quite foreboding to any and all that would enter the valley. Midoro stands there with her tail moving behind her gracefully and around her wrist up to her neck was the snake coiled around her. Midoro stares at the valley for a few moments and then starts to make her way forward and thinks about all that had elapsed when she had found out about her child's disappearance and the death of her husband.

Midoro continues her path even as the lightning clashed loudly, sometimes more loudly if she wasn't mistaken if she started to head in a certain direction as if to warn her not to go that way, and so she would. Midoro remembers finding out from another village that had been ravaged by the pair much like hers that this valley was the home to them.

Midoro grinded her teeth noisily enough that, the snake who could sense her mood became unsettled and squirmed in an uneasy way until her hand came up to touch the head of it and she said, "It is alright, I'm anxious to get revenge for what happened to my family." And said nothing more but made an effort to be more calm for both her snake and her sake, after all it would not do her good if she was too upset when they reached their destination and she got careless enough to make a mistake that would cause her to join her family's fate.

She was not alone as she and her snake walked down, there was a small cloud floating high over her head that was not as dark as the other thundering clouds ahead. The small cloud wasn't rumbling in power as the others but it definitely seemed to follow the same path as her for a while before it then took off, flying at a fairly quick pace to go ahead of where Midoro was heading and flies into the damaged home of what was the Raiju brothers to come to a stop before a girl who was playing with a toy by herself. An arm sticks out of the cloud and seems to hit itself 3 times before poofing into a tiny red dragon familiar that looked more like a lizard with tiny wings.

The tiny dragon says, "Soten! I bring news! A strange fox woman is approaching our home!" Soten looks at the small dragon and says, "What Koryu? How soon is she going to get here?" and then before Koryu can answer she Grrrrrrs, "How dare someone enter our clan's valley!" Koryu just hovers where he is until she's done and then says, "She'll be here close to sunset if she keeps at the same pace she's going at." Soten turns to face Koryu and says, "We've got plans to make!" and then turns to grab a parchment and then spots the crayons that she had gotten from meeting Shippou. Her face softens a little as she looks at them and then turns to Koryu to say, "Go find out if she is friend or foe before we make our plans!" She moves to pick up the normal tool for writing for her time and starts to make plans just in case she was a foe while Koryu says, "Ok! I'm off then!" And then Koryu flies off to let her make plans.

(Feudal Era)

(Elsewhere)

Kikyo was walking with the many soul skimmers flying around her, carrying some extra souls should she ever need any to sustain herself with it. She walks to a village and greets the small children that come up to her in a giggling and laughing welcome. A mother comes up to Kikyo and recognizes that she is a Miko and apologizes for her child being a bother. Kikyo assures the woman that the child is not a bother and lowers herself to her knee to put a hand upon the little child's head and gives a soft smile to the little girl before saying, "You are a good girl aren't you?" to which she nods with a smile. The mother relaxes and lets the young girl stay where she is as long as she isn't bothering her.

After about a day in the village Kikyo heads out of the village and with her acute senses, she feels something is very wrong and she knows that this is what has been drawing her attention the whole time. Kikyo's soul skimmers fly around her, some even hovering with little balls of light being souls that they've gathered just for her. Kikyo continues her walk in silence until she reaches a cave. The cave seems to wail in misery, and though she can sense a very strong presence she knows that it only partially acts like a very strong barrier.

Kikyo walks up to the entrance of the cave and says, "I'm here now, why have you summoned me?" to which a very strong current of air blows out of it before an even stronger suction as if trying to say, "Come in... You must see for yourself." So Kikyo starts walking forward and can see signs of a valiant struggle with many little demon insects littering the floor of the cave, all around and along the path.

Kikyo continues her walk until she comes to an impressive sight where a single woman is battling many and very powerful demons apparently all by herself. The air stirs at her back, giving her a gentle push towards the woman and she walks right up to the base until she sees that someone has purposely broken off a part of her finger. Frowning she wonders why anyone would do such a thing. She closes her eyes and listens. Kikyo hears the sounds of the cavern echoing around the room, the sounds of voices seem to have a weird kind of echo to them before she can start to hear the voice of the Mika who existed here telling her something in and echoing reverse way, which made it difficult to understand. She seemed to understand the difficulty that Kikyo was going through and started to play the sounds of the cave back for her starting from when they left to when they arrived. One thing was for certain; that even in reverse Kikyo recognized the sounds of Naraku's poison insects which was only confirmed when she heard Naraku at the end when she heard Naraku's voice. Upon hearing Naraku's voice she speaks softly to the spirit of the cave, "I understand now what you were trying to tell me. I will do my best to make sure Naraku doesn't sully your spirit and honor as a Mika." And then Kikyo turns to head on out of the cave, feeling a wave of relief and support in her endeavor.  
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AN: Now the good guys know (tho I know some Kikyo haters will argue) about a piece of what Naraku is planning. Sorry if she's not totally in char here, but its hard to know her mind totally. R&R Please!


	13. A Mother's Love

**Story by: Eric Lentz**

**Chapter Eleven: A Mother's Love**

(Kagome's Time)   
(Kagome's House)

Kagome walks out into the living room while her mother is in the kitchen cooking food for supper. She is all bright and bubbly as she walks up to each of her friends in the room and gives them all a big bear hug starting with Sango for a long minute and then turns to Miroku!

When Kagome gave Miroku a big bear hug with Sango sitting right next to him, he took one look at Sango's face and gulped before pulling back his hand that was about to touch her rear end. Inuyasha had been in the back with Shippou and Sota when Kagome had walked into the living room so when he came back and saw Kagome hugging Miroku tightly and Sango giving Miroku a 'touch and DIE look' he failed to notice that Miroku was trying his best to push Kagome off of him even as he said, "I-its good to see you too Kagome. Do you think you could let go now? I need to breathe." And thought to himself, "I also need to get her off before Sango gets too mad and kills me."

Inuyasha yelled, "What's going on! Kagome! What are you doing hugging Miroku!?" Kagome turned her head and her face lit up like a star going nova, she seemed to actually glow like her arrows do when she fires them.

Kagome released Miroku who crumpled to the floor and looked up at Sango saying, "Sango, you know I wouldn't take advantage of a Kagome when she's not clearly herself. Don't you?" and Sango merely "Hmmmfs!" before turning away her face from him and then looks at a glowing Kagome tackle Inuyasha to the ground in a big hug as she cried out his name once more.

Sango's face softens as she thinks to herself, "Miroku didn't... but looking at Kagome with worried eyes which Miroku could see as he sat up. Kagome what has happened to you?" Miroku crossed his arms in thought as his eyes drifted from the worried Sango's to where Kagome was hugging him like no tomorrow and Inuyasha was weakly begging her to stop even as Shippou and Sota looked on in shock at them and then at each other without a word between them.

Kagome looked up at Inuyasha's face with such brightness that was totally unnatural for her and Shippou said, "Kagome! Are you feeling alright?" and Sota chimed in by saying, "Hey Sis! What are you doing?" What Kagome said next was a big shock and was timed perfectly with Kagome's mother coming in with a dishrag in her hands as she dried them and was about to announce that supper was ready. Kagome looked up at Inuyasha's face with the brightness and innocence of a child and said, "I love you Inuyasha!" and then squeezed him extra hard, cutting off the air to Inuyasha's lungs almost as much as those words had knocked the breath out of him. Miroku nodded as he said, "About time she said it." And was promptly elbowed by a blushing Sango who quietly and quickly looked away from Miroku. Kagome just laid on top of Inuyasha with her arms tightly wrapped around him and nuzzling his chest like a purring kitten and to Inuyasha's good ears, there was a soft 'mmmmm' sound coming from her that was reminisce of a cat purr.

Kagome's Mother took all this in stride as she'd known for quite some time already that Kagome loved Inuyasha even if she couldn't quite say it aloud. Kagome's Mother simply finished drying her hands and gave a warm, motherly smile as she said, "Dinner's ready everyone!" Her words were just as surprising but welcomed and it made Kagome let go of Inuyasha but before she dashed off to the kitchen she scooped up Sota and Shippou into her arms and give them both a big, quick hug!

Inuyasha just laid there on the ground like he'd just been stunned while his mind went over what Kagome had just said. Playing the declaration of love over and over even as he thought about his own feelings for her and Kikyo. Only getting up after Kagome yells from the table, "Come on Inuyasha! We're all waiting for you to start supper!" As soon as Inuyasha is on his feet, he says, "I'm coming..." his mind still whirling over everything that's happened since she'd been hurt up to the moment she declared her love for him.

(Feudal Era)

(Raimei Valley)

Soten looks at the plans in her home that she'd done in preparation for the woman's arrival and she anxiously waited to find out if was friend or foe. After all, few came to her valley because of all the intense lightning. Lightning wouldn't bother her or Koryu since they were of the lightning clan and had long ago since adapted to the climate. Soten looked around and smiled at some of the pictures that she'd done since meeting Shippou, the warrior who'd been her match in battle and yet surrendered. Her favorite drawing was the one of Shippou that she'd first drawn and was probably the far most handsome looking one.

Looking at a nearby candle that she'd lit when she had started to make the plans, she noticed that he'd been gone for far too long for what was supposed to be a quick trip for him. She frowned and wondered if he'd been captured or... shaking her head she thought no, and decided to go look for him when with a flash of lightning illuminating the walls, she caught a glimpse of something.

Soten slowly backed away from where she had seen it and towards an exit, watching for another sign of it with the next flash of lightning. She didn't need to wait long and it scared her because that's when it seemed like a snake of some kind and yelled in fear as she ran towards the exit the moment she saw the glowing red eyes and the terrible, long fangs with the sight of dried blood on them. Soten was almost to the exit when she remembered her friend and all that he'd done for her and thought about how she'd be alone now, thinking of all this she stopped where she was and turned towards the glowing red eyes and said angrily, "No! I am a member of the Thunder Clan and I won't run from some red eyes and fangs!"

Soten readied her magic as the snake went visible, looking more menacing in the flashes of lightning that seemed to happen more as if aware of what was happening. Soten then yelled, "Did you eat Koryu? If you did, I will avenge him!" and tossed her laughing acorns at the snake which shrugged it off and slithered closer. Soten frowned and said, "You want to play hard? Well then take this!" and shouted "Thunder Magic! Falling Daruma!" as she sent a large Daruma piece by piece at the snake as she hit it with a hammer. The snake tried to avoid all of the parts sent but was hit by two of them and sent backwards towards the wall. Soten grinned and said proudly, "That'll teach you to deal with the Thunder Clan!"

The snake opened its eyes and hissed very angrily at her and started to move towards her again at a quick pace. Soten said, "Haven't had enough have you?" and then suddenly a female voice from behind her said, "That's enough out of you young lady!" and was picked up by the collar from behind and saw that the snake was still advancing quickly so she closed her eyes and went "AYIIIIIII!!!" before saying in a low voice, "Shippou, I wish you were here!" Soten was surprised when the woman holding her said in a firm voice, "STOP KIRORU!"

Soten opened her eyes and saw the snake with its mouth wide open and eyes glowing very red with the blood-dried fangs less than a foot away from her. Soten panicked and tried to get away from the snake even as it slowly closed the mouth with the fangs disappearing before she is turned around slowly to face the woman who'd been holding her in the air and the sight of the woman's eyes made her shiver to the bone. She hadn't seen such anger in those eyes except those in the eyes of Hiten when he got really mad. So Soten was more than a bit surprised to hear the woman's voice as she said, "Shippou is alive? Do you know where he is?" and there was a touch of softness behind the anger, so she looked at the woman again and saw the fox tail swish behind her.

Soten nodded and said, "Yeah, he's alive the last time I checked. Why do you care?" The woman before her looked happy that Shippou was alive but also a bit sad when she said that last part and she couldn't explain it but she felt for the woman. She remembered Shippou's last words to her before he left and she said, "I am sorry about that, please forgive me." And tried to bow in apology even though she was still being held by the woman. The woman looked at the child in her hand and said, "Thank you" and gently lowered Soten to the floor. She kneeled before Soten and said in such a way that she felt that all the woman's hopes were resting on what her answer was, "Can you tell me where I might find Shippou? Is he doing all right? Is he healthy?" Soten partially jumped when she saw the snake sliding past her and up onto the woman before it seemed to fall asleep on her. Soten looked at her in puzzlement and asked, "Yeah, I might know where to find him and he looked healthy enough to defeat me in a battle."

Soten look at her as she seemed to smile in happiness and what she thought might have been pride. Soten then said, "So, who are you? Why do you want him?" The woman gave a big friendly smile as she said, "Thank you child, you have given me hope beyond what I ever thought possible. I am Midoro, mother of Shippou." Soten's jaw dropped and said, "What! I thought Shippou lost both his parents just like me!"

Midoro's face became a little pained and sad, and the last thing Soten wanted to do was hurt Shippou's mother! He'd never forgive her! Soten bowed and said, "I'm sorry! Please forgive me Midoro!" and a hand reached out to rest on her head, with Midoro saying, "It is alright. There is nothing to forgive. It was my own choice and now I have to live with it."

Soten got an idea and said, "Let me show you something!" and dashed off, returning with one of the good pictures of Shippou that she'd drawn with the crayons that he gave her after he surrendered. The effect was what she had hoped for, Midoro's face light up and she smiled as she took the drawing from her. "This... This is my Shippou?" Midoro starts to get teary eyed as she looks at the drawing and says, "Oh... I haven't seen you in so long my son." With tears now running down her cheeks and drops falling onto the scroll, she smiled big and said to no one in particular, "Shippou, my son... I'm going to find you and then we can be together."

Midoro looks up at Soten with hope in her eyes and says, "This drawing is strange but wonderful... May I keep it?" and Soten nods as she says, "Yes, and when you see Shippou, please thank him for the crayons." Midoro looked at her and said, "Crayons? Is that how you captured so many colors onto a single drawing?" Soten gives a brief nod and says, "Yep, and he got it from his friend Kagome who is from the future." Midoro gasped in shock and her hands shook as she thought, "N-No... it can't be the same Kagome! The one from the well!" Soten looked at her and said, "What is it? Did I say something wrong?"

Midoro settled herself through an act of will and gave her a smile saying, "Oh, I just realized that I was so close to my son and I didn't realize it." Soten looks at her and smiles a little, "Well, if you find Kagome again, then you'll be sure to find your son Shippou with her since they're always traveling together."

Midoro felt a pit growing in her stomach as she heard this and said while retaining a outward smile, "Is that so? Why is that?" Soten looked up in thought and said, "Oh, I think it was because of how nice Kagome and Inuyasha were as they helped him defeat my older brothers and get his revenge on what they did to his village and father. Also, I don't think he really knew of anyplace else to go." The pit grew big now in her stomach and was starting to make her ill, she'd just attacked the very same people who had not only taken care of the revenge but had taken care of her son ever since then! Midoro decided she just had to find Kagome and apologize for her actions.

Midoro held the drawing of Shippou close to her chest as she bowed and said, "Thank you young boy, I am indebted to you more than you'll ever know." Soten frowned and said, "Hey, I'm a girl! And the name's Soten, leader of the Thunder Clan." Midoro widened her eyes in surprise before smiling as she realized something, that Soten had a crush on her son and thought it was very sweet! Soten then realized something and said, "Um, do you know what happened to Koryu?" in a bit of a nervous, almost fearful way as she was hoping for the best and expecting the worse.

Midoro reached into her Kimono and pulled him out saying, "Here he is, I'm sorry I forced him to lead us here so I could confront your brothers."

Soten said, "Koryu! I'm glad to see you in one piece!" Soten then nervously scratched the back of her head and went heh-heh, "I'm glad we're friends now."

Midoro smiled softly and nodded, "Yes, that we are. Well, I won't impose on your hospitality any further. I will leave now." Soten said, "Wait! Why don't you stay for the night? It is already night and it will be dangerous for you to travel until daylight if you don't know your way."

Midoro was still smiling as she did a light bow, "Thank you, I would be most honored to stay the night." And then she turned to walk with Soten, towards where the beds were kept, saying, "Maybe you can tell me more about my son Shippou and your big battle." This got Soten puffed up with excitement and she nodded, "Sure! I just hope you can handle the story of the battle we had! It was stuff of legends!" she bragged some to Midoro to which she just nodded and silently thought, "I hope my son can forgive me when he learns of what I did to his friend Kagome."

Snapping herself out of her thoughts, she paid attention to the story of how Soten challenged Shippou and put traps up to defeat his friends with Shippou in the end emerging as the winner without any assistance from them. The story gave Midoro a sense of closeness with her son and made her feel better, far better than she'd been when she had learned that she had lost her husband and son to the two brothers from the Thunder Clan. Midoro slept well that night with happy dreams of meeting Shippou and being a family again.

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AN: Well, sorry it took so long to write this but ever since I've hurt my wrist it has been hard to type. Also, I got addicted to the InuYasha RPG game called The Secret of the Cursed Mask which takes up a lot of my time. Go pick it up if you're a InuYasha fan, the artwork and English voice acting is super! Btw, there is a japanese version but it isn't on american soil, you'll have to get it from someone over there if you want it. Anyway, Read and Review this story please! Reviews are what make me write faster stories since it is the input that I use to decide what to put into the next chapter! :) Oh, and if you're reading this Mika (and I'm sure you are, tell your friends too!)


	14. Where are you Kagome?

**Story by: Eric Lentz**

**Chapter Twelve: Where are you Kagome?**

(Kagome's Time)   
(Kagome's Home)

Inuyasha, Sango and Miroku were standing in Sota's room since Miroku decided they needed to talk in private and with Kagome obviously acting strange, they needed to be out of sight for a little bit. Inuyasha was standing in the room with his arms crossed while Miroku was standing with one hand on his staff and Sango standing to his left and dressed in a casual clothes that Kagome's mother had given her to wear.

Sango felt strange wearing 'modern' clothes but she did it out of respect for Kagome's mother and a little guilt that somehow whatever happened to Kagome was her fault.

Miroku looked at Sango for a moment who was wearing a white shirt that had a face of a pink kitty over her left side and a pair of jeans that Kagome had bought once but didn't fit right anymore, but they fit her just fine. Miroku thought, "Sango looks good in 'present day' clothes, I wonder if I can talk her into wearing them more often." And then he shook his head and returned his look to Inuyasha as he thought, "No, now is not the time for thinking such things, I need to stay focused for Kagome's sake."

Miroku said to Inuyasha, "Inuyasha, I called us in here to discuss what to do in light of... Kagome's recent behavior." Inuyasha nodded and said, "Yeah, I know. Kagome's not acting like herself at all." Then Sango spoke up and said, "Inuyasha, I don't think that Kagome's going to get any better in her time. This is obviously magic and the only ones who use magic are back in the our time." Miroku nods and said, "Sango is absolutely correct Inuyasha, and I think the sooner we go back, the sooner we can help her."

Inuyasha just looked at the two of them for a long time and then said to the two of them, "I know you're right, but where will we find that snake? I just know that it has something to do with all this!" Miroku glances at Sango who meets his eye and then he looks back to Inuyasha to say, "Inuyasha, I know how you feel. However, I feel our chances of finding that snake are slim. Naraku has most likely used another priestess or demon who has a snake to get what he wanted from Kagome, even if at the present what he is planning is unclear."

Inuyasha growled, "Damn that Naraku, I'll make him pay! I'll make whoever did this to Kagome pay!" and flexed a clawed hand openly in the air as if wanting to shred whoever did it. Miroku says, "Calm down Inuyasha, it won't do Kagome any good until we can return her missing half to her. Until then I say we save the revenge for after we have her back to normal." Sango nods and says, "As much as I hate to say it, Miroku is right. We should focus first on restoring Kagome back to normal before going after who did this."

Inuyasha growled a little and then says, "You're both right, Kagome comes first." And then he looks at the door after his ear visibly twitches. Without another word, Inuyasha walks over to the door and yanks it open into the room and in spill Sota and Shippou to the ground since they'd been leaning on the door trying to hear.

Inuyasha growled, "Why you two..." and was about to hit them when Miroku put his hand on Inuyasha's shoulder and said "Wait Inuyasha." Miroku looked down at the two boys who had scrambled to their feet and quickly apologized for spying. Miroku said, "What did you two hear?"

Shippou was the first to speak up and said, "I heard that you think it is time to take Kagome back to our time and I want to help Kagome return to her normal self too!" Sota was next and said, "I want to help too! It is freaky to see Kagome like this! Nothing upsets her and believe me I tried!"

Sango kneeled in front of the two boys and said, as she put her hand on Sota's shoulder, "I promise you that we'll do everything in our power to return your sister to you the way you remember her. Just have faith in us ok?"

Sota gave Sango a hug and said, "Thank you Sango! I know you guys will do your best, but trails off and fear shows in his eyes before he looks up at Inuyasha What if Kagome can't be returned to normal? What if she's like this forever?"

Sango runs her hand over Sota's head, thinking of how Sota reminds her of her own younger brother and fights back the urge to make her eyes watery and hears Inuyasha say, "Don't worry kid, we'll return Kagome to normal and I'll make sure that whoever did this pays for this." With that sureness in his voice that always made Sango believe that he could accomplish what he said no matter what the odds. Sango looks back to Sota and says, "Sota, until Kagome's back to normal how about you just think of me as your sister. After all Kagome and I are practically like family after all the stuff we've done for each other."

Sota looked up into Sango's eyes and says, "Really? You mean it?" Sango looks back into those eyes and says, "Yes, I promise." And ruffles his head playfully, lightening the mood somewhat. Sota says, "Hey! I'm not a pet!" and then when Sango moves her hand away, he yells, "Gotcha!" and laughs! Sango smiles and joins in on the laughing.

Just then Inuyasha hears more footsteps approaching the hallway but he recognizes the walk and says nothing until Kagome's Mother appears in the doorframe and says, "Hello, so this is where you all are." She smiles when she sees the smiling faces of Sota and a kneeling Sango, just happy to see Sota smiling since they all came here with her hurt daughter. She thought to herself, "They're starting to get over their grief, good... they'll need it to help Kagome." But stops her thought when she looks at Inuyasha and still sees the pain in his eyes.

Kagome's mother says, "Well, I've made you all some Bento lunches and packed all the usual stuff that Kagome takes through the well with her for you all. When do you plan on going back through the well?" Everyone looks surprised, "How did you know what we were planning?" asks Miroku who was the first to regain speech.

Kagome's mother simply smiles and says, "Oh that is easy Miroku, whatever has happened to her started in the Feudal Era before you came here with her, and it is obvious that is where you all must go to find the answers." With it being said in such a way that it was the most obvious answer in the entire world.

Miroku smiles and says, "I see, you're a very intelligent and observant woman." Kagome's mother just smiles and says, "Thank you Miroku, Kagome has told me you were always the sharp one and I see that she's right."

Sango stands up and says, "Thank you for being so understanding. I think we'll be leaving as soon as Kagome feels up to traveling." Kagome's mother looks at Sango and says, "I think she's ready to travel right now, just be careful out there because she's not herself." Inuyasha spoke up and says, "I promise you, I will protect Kagome with my life if necessary!" Shaking her head, she says, "No, Inuyasha... I want you both to be safe, it would make Kagome very sad when she returns to normal and find that you're not there anymore." This surprises Inuyasha and so he says, "Alright, I always stay by her side and defend her then." She looks into Inuyasha's eyes, and says, "I know, but thank you Inuyasha."

Miroku was silently impressed by Kagome's mother, and thought to himself that she had a strength that he'd never seen before. It was almost like she was certain that no matter what happened, Kagome would be all right. He wondered for a moment if she had some kind of foreknowledge of what was going to happen or just had faith in her daughter and the love in the love Kagome had so recently announced to Inuyasha?

Sango looked at Kagome's Mother and thought to herself, "What a strong woman she is, I don't know if I'd be able to be like her if this happened to my daughter. I would probably go out myself and try to help in any way I could if it were me." Then she realizes something, "She is doing something, she is staying out of our way because we're the best people to help Kagome." And admired her for having the silent strength to do what she could and nothing more.

Shippou looked up at the people and said, "What are we waiting around for? Let's go get Kagome back to normal!" and moved towards the exit with Sota saying as he followed him out, "I'll go get Kagome!" Within moments, both kids were gone, leaving the rest standing in the room.

Kagome's Mother says, "Well, I guess you'll all be leaving now. Please have a safe journey all of you." Then she turns to Inuyasha, "Inuyasha, I want you to not take any unnecessary risks on Kagome's behalf ok? I want to see you return with Kagome when she's returned to her old self, all right?"

Inuyasha grumbled a little before nodding and says, "Ok, I promise I'll return with Kagome." Smiling, Kagome's mother says, "Good, now that's settled. she turns to Sango I have your Kimono and your demon slayer outfit all cleaned and packaged for you on the dining room table."

Sango smiles a little and says, "Thank you, but you didn't have to go through all that trouble." Kagome's mother says, "Oh, it was no trouble at all my dear. Now, you all had best get along before Kagome begins to wonder what happened to you all."

Everyone leaves the room and walk out to the dining room where Sango picks up her clothes and pauses to look at them, thinking that she's never seen them so clean before! Sango turns to head back into the house when Kagome's Mother says, "Where are you going?" Sango says, "I'm going to go change, I feel more comfortable in my clothes for my time. I also need to return these clothes to you." Inuyasha and Miroku continue on the way out to the yard that leads to the well and run into Kagome, Shippou, Sota and Grandpa.

Kagome's mother shakes her head and says, "Oh, you don't need to worry about returning them. They're yours to keep." Blinking in surprise, Sango says, "Really? But I couldn't..." and is stopped by Kagome's Mother saying, "I insist Sango, you and the others have already done so much for my daughter. Think of this as a thank you for everything." Sango looks at her clothes and says, "I... I don't know what to say, but Thank you. I'll wear it when I come back here." And they give each other a brief hug.

Inuyasha yells to Sango who is still in the house, "Hey Sango! We don't have all day you know!" Sango says, "I better go hurry and get changed. Can you tell them I'll be right out for me?" Kagome's mother nods and says, "Yes dear" and walks out the door while Sango goes down the hallway to quickly change into her kimono. Sango rushes back out to the yard, finding everyone there and a large backpack on Inuyasha's back and Kagome carrying the smaller stuff.

Waving to her mother, Kagome says, "See you later Mother!" and with the big smile that she's had since returning from the hospital, she turns and with Inuyasha by her side she wraps one arm around his and pulls him towards the well, making him stumble a step from the yank. Miroku turns to Sango and says while offering his arm, "Shall we go Sango?" which makes her blush and walk quickly away from him.

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AN: I got two reviews telling me to update ASAP, so that's exactly what I've done! Enjoy! Sorry if it's not to my usual style of multiple times and places, but hey... this is long enough as it is! LOL! Anyway read and review please!


	15. The Terror Will Begin

**Story by: Eric Lentz**

**Chapter 14: The Terror Will Begin…**

(Feudal Era)  
(Within Naraku's shield)

Naraku is walking through the hallway with his two new children following him, and behind them is Kagura who looks at one of the new ones with an angry glare. Naraku turns and says, "Kagura, go to Kaede's village and check on Kagome's condition."

Kagura was not happy and says, "Why don't you use your insects to find that out?" Naraku's eyes move just a fraction but it is enough to show his anger. Naraku looks at her and says, "Do you forget who has your heart?" and Kagura lowers her head and says, "No, Naraku."

Naraku looks at her for a moment before saying to Kagura, "Go then, and return when you have the information." She walks out a nearby door since they'd been near the exit and flies off on her large white feather.

Naraku turns to his new children and says, "Your name shall be Kagraku, and then turns to the other and says, "Your name shall be Kadoriko" The two children, Kagraku and Kadoriko looked at each other and each wondered if Naraku had something over them like he did with Kagura. Even though both of the young women (both were Kagome's age) were loyal to Naraku, they both had a lot of spiritual power and it was beginning to take an effect on their evil minds.

They both followed Naraku as he walked back to his room within the castle, satisfied that Kagura was following his orders. While their great powers were filling their minds with all that they could do.

Kagraku's eyes slowly got a darker, more evil shadow upon them than even Naraku's ever did before she suddenly put her hand upon her head and closes her eyes as if dealing with a headache before slowly opens her eyes. Kagraku slowly grins in an evil way before she thinks, "Kagome has survived… she will need to be dealt with before I can carry my new plans."

Kadoriko looks at her 'sister' and nods to her as they walk down the corridor even as they glow an eerie blue light for just a few moments as she used her power to test something. She used her power to reach out and destroy one of the demons in the castle, grinning for a few moments she realized that she would be able to break free of Naraku's grasp any time she wished but for now their goals were the same and so she would continue to serve him.

(Feudal Era)

(Kaede's Home)

Kagura lands just outside the entrance to the home where she had been told to go and thought it was suspicious immediately that Inuyasha and the others had not come bursting out to challenge her and protect Kagome. From the amount of blood that she'd seen come out of the snake, she figured Kagome would still be knocked out, possibly on the edge and she found it hard to believe that any of her friends would leave her unprotected unless… Kagura walks in to discover that Kagome was not there, no one was there and from the look of thing that she'd seen no one had been there for some time. Kagura nibbles on her lower lip with her fan over her mouth as she thinks to herself, wondering where they could have taken her.

Kagura walks out and flies up high on her feather to see if she can spot any of them from the air, even though she knew that the chance of her spotting them was extremely remote. If Kagome wasn't there, she must have been taken someplace more secure to protect Kagome from Naraku and she thought to herself that made sense seeing as she was flying around trying to find Kagome.

Flying over the Inuyasha forest not far from village Kagura discovers Inuyasha and everyone else walking towards the village! Her eyes widened as she saw a very, very cheerful Kagome walking and holding onto Inuyasha as if he was the greatest thing in the world! Hovering in the air over them, she whispers to herself, "How did that wrench Kagome recover so fast! It should have taken her months to recover as much blood loss as she had lost!

Kagura decides that she will observe from a safe distance, knowing that all of Kagome's friends are with her and she has no demons to call forth to aid her. While watching, she noticed that Inuyasha seemed to be sniffing the air and she wondered what he could possibly be doing that for. She was surprised when Inuyasha took off at a run from the hilltop and ran towards the village while drawing his blasted sword into the larger and much more dangerous form that she was well aware of.

Kagura thinks to herself, "What is that mutt doing?" before she sees him get on the ground where she had stood not too long ago and realizes something, "That mutt Inuyasha caught my scent! That's why he left Kagome's side." Kagura watches him enter the hut that she'd been in recently and decides that this is the perfect chance for her to find out what happened. Kagura flies down quickly out of the sky and is spotted by the damn Monk Miroku. Kagura lands and says, "Well, well… aren't you the speedy recovery Kagome? I was under the impression you'd be bed-ridden for months."

Miroku who was in front of Kagome with Sango having a grip on her weapon said, "So it was Naraku who did this to Kagome!" Kagura smiles slowly and evilly, "Of course, who else would want to hurt the reincarnation of Kikyo?" Sango says to Kagura, "We won't let you hurt her again!"

Kagura slowly opens her fan a little as a threatening gesture, "I am not here to hurt her, I was merely curious as to how she is up and walking so soon. Besides looks at Sango in the eyes what are you going to do if I do choose to attack her?"

Kagome was hugging Kirara and telling her what beautiful fur she has. Kagura grinned and says, "Besides Kagome doesn't look like she's much of a threat to anyone, she's more like a simpleton the way she seems to be."

Just then Inuyasha yells, "Get away from Kagome, Kagura!" which causes her to turn and curse herself for having forgotten about him. Kagura sends a wind blade attack at Inuyasha and in return Inuyasha swings his sword while yelling "Wind scar!" Kagura barely put up a shield of wind in time, which held just long enough for her to fly up on the large white feather. Kagura yelled down to Inuyasha, "You have not seen the last of me Inuyasha!" and flew off to report back to Naraku what she had learned.

Inuyasha sheathes his sword and looks at Kagome as says, "Kagome! Are you all right?" and immediately gets a weird feeling as Kagome looks back at him with her hands clasped together and eyes watery. Kagome says, "Oh Inuyasha! You protected me from Kagura!" and then immediately jumps at him, wrapping her arms around him and hugging him tightly! Inuyasha tries to gently push Kagome off of him and says, "Kagome! Let go of me!" before he sees Miroku and Sango looking at them.

Miroku nods his head and says, "Ah, two lovers… it is only natural to show such affection when they've been saved." Sango looks at Miroku as if she can't believe he said that! Miroku turns to her and says, "How about we hug as well in thanks for Kagome's safety?"

Sango blushes red and turns away saying "No Miroku, don't be silly now." Before she feels his hand start to caress her rear so she turns around and gives him a sounding SLAP what causes Kagome to turn her attention to the two of them. Inuyasha takes the distraction as a chance to slip out of Kagome's arms and step a safe distance away.

Sango looks at Miroku as he apologizes, turning herself away to him and faces Kagome who is approaching her and Miroku. Kagome reaches out with soft, sad eyes as she says, "Does that hurt Miroku?" and touches his slapped face. Inuyasha grrrrs at Miroku, which he knows better than to argue with and steps away from Kagome before she can grab him saying, "This is nothing… I'm fine Kagome."

Inuyasha looking a little more at ease than when he grrrr'd at Miroku looks at everyone and says, "Come on everyone, we need to get a move on!" Miroku and Sango both agree and they turn to see the small Kirara in Kagome's arms and being petted. Sango sees Kirara give off a soft "Meow" she understands that she just said, "It is ok" to Sango. Sango turns to Inuyasha and says, "Right! Let's go!" So everyone starts walking to Kaede's home in the village nearby with Kaede and Shippou hanging in the back in case Kagura comes back.

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AN: Hey everyone, things are picking up a little... new people will be introduced, new twists will be shown, and best of all... a battle is going to happen soon! So, other than Naraku (saving him for later) who would you readers like to see go up against who in the near chapters? I'll write the battle based on the replies I get. :) Oh, and just thought I'd ask... any artists out there who want to draw Shippo's mother? Well, please read and reply soon!


	16. How the Heartstrings Pull

**Story by: Eric Lentz**

**Chapter 15: How the heartstrings pull…**

(Feudal Era)

(In a secret area)

Sitting down on a small mat, they both look at each other face to face. The man sitting across from her was a very old man with white hair that covered most of his face and ears even though if he made the slightest motions, one could see them. She looked at him, keeping quiet until he spoke as she'd been taught to respect the elderly. The old man looked at her for a while before saying, "Aneko, you've been with us for quite some time now. However, it has come to my attention most recently some news that I think you should hear."

Aneko looked at him, now very curious and said, "What information do you have that could possibly concern me, Great Negi?" The old man raised a hand and brushed some of his hair away from his face and she could see his eyes very clearly now, eyes that were bright and young-seeming as the day she'd met him. It was those very eyes that despite his look, made her feel like she was in the presence of a much younger man, younger than even herself if possible.

As Aneko looked at Negi's eyes, she could swear that she saw something that resembled a kind of sadness in his eyes. She got the feeling that she was not going to like the news that he had to tell her. Aneko's tail swished over the floor in a nervous twitch which was the only showing of emotions that she gave as she waited for him to continue.

Negi did something unexpected, something that she never would have thought he would have done in a million years. He reached out across the mat and took one of her hands that was in front of her and gave it a gentle squeeze.

Aneko was REALLY starting to get worried now, as she began to wonder what could be so big that he'd show her this much kindness? She could remember how strict he could be, even mean at times, harsh even but it all was part of her training. She also knew that he was also quite the family man and from the kind touch and sadness in his eyes, she slowly widened her eyes as the realization slowly dawned on her.

Negi nodded as if reading her thoughts, which she had long ago suspected that he could do from the very beginning of her training. Negi just stared at her, and without even her noticing it, he had moved forward to where his knee's where almost touching hers. She couldn't even speak as she found a lump in her throat that seemed to prevent her from forming any words. Eventually she found the will to push it down and say, "Did… something happen…? To my family?" and choked at the last part and had to try again before she said, "To mother?"

Negi finally spoke and said, "Aneko, before I answer I must tell you this. You will always have a place with us here. This can be your home for as long as you like." Aneko's ears slowly lowered and her tail, if it were possible would be drooped but settled for laying almost lifelessly upon the floor. With every word, she felt a growing dread at hearing the words, a feeling of wanting to hear it to get it over with while a feeling of not wanting to hear it so that it could mean that it wasn't true, that it never happened. She heard every word, and yet it was faint in her mind as she whirled at all the possible things he could possibly tell her until those very words that which would snap her back into rigid attention even though as she'd been well taught, she betrayed little expression upon her face with only her eyes being the ones to tell the tale.

Negi could tell what she was doing, for he knew her better than she knew herself and continued his well-rehearsed speech but it was different than the ones he'd given to many others in the past. He knew she didn't know it, but he was her Grandfather and Clan Head all rolled into one. So he sincerely meant it when he told her that she'd always have a home with them, with her Grandfather but even now he couldn't afford to tell her the truth due to a promise he'd made when she was but a newborn.

Negi finally said what he'd been dreading to say, and knew the impact it would have upon her to hear it but it had to be said. Taking a deep breath, Negi very carefully said, "Aneko, your father was destroyed by two demons from the Thunder Clan and…" Negi knew just how much she cared about her younger brother and truly wished he didn't have to say what he was about to say next, so rather than leave her hanging, he said, "Your younger brother went off to avenge his father and has not returned to the village since. There were reports of a battle with the two of them not long after them but it is uncertain what transpired, as there were no witnesses nearby. Only those who could see the fierce lightning that was their trademark from a distance." Bowing his head but not breaking eye contact until he said the last bit to her by saying, "It is… assumed that your younger brother also perished and his fur used like the report of what happened to your father. I am sorry, Aneko…"

Negi, who was still holding her hand in his could feel how cold it got rather quickly, and knew that she was in deep shock which was confirmed when he looked up to meet her eyes. He saw how watery they were and it wasn't long before tears that were being unfelt by the woman within as they ran down her cheeks and fell onto her lap.

Aneko's eyes looking vacant but he knew she was merely remembering her younger brother and father in a series of flashbacks, with her heart tugging painfully at each and every scene within. What seemed like an eternity to Aneko was only a few minutes to Negi before she realized she'd been crying and quickly removed her hand from Negi's so that she could wipe a both her eyes to try to stop the tears, tears that didn't stop for a while no matter how much she rubbed.

Negi eventually grabbed at her hands and forced them down to prevent her from hurting herself. Speaking softly, Negi said to her, "I know how difficult this must be… but remember you still have your mother and everyone here at the clan is your family as well. We will always be there for you." And then while looking into Aneko's eyes he said with a bit of firmness and sadness that tugged at the heartstrings, "I… will be here for you, I know I've never been exactly a father figure to you. But I hope that you'll consider this old one a kind of Grandfather to you."

Aneko looked at him with wet eyes and said in a trembling voice, "D-does… my mother know?" and Negi looked back into those eyes and replied, "I… don't know, but I don't think she knows yet." Aneko looked at him and said, "Thank you Great Negi… but I must go now." Looking into Negi's eyes she paused and added in a low voice obviously meant for the two of them even though there was no one else in the room, "Thank you for everything, I would be happy to consider you my Grandfather, Negi." And missed the joy he showed towards her as she dashed out of the room with her speed that made her famous in the clan.

(Kagome's Time)  
(Kagome's Home)

Sota was eating at the table and said to his Mother, "Mom, do you think Inuyasha and the others will really be able to help Kagome return to normal?"

Grandfather answered quickly trying to help her answer such a question by saying, "Of course they will! If it is anyone that can do it, it is Inuyasha and her friends!"

Kagome's Mother put a plate down of freshly cooked food onto the table and gave a warm, soft smile as she said, "He's right, I believe that Kagome is in the best of hands with Inuyasha. He will make sure Kagome is alright and returned to us the way we remember to be."

Sota seemed to be satisfied by the answers and since he already had Inuyasha as his hero, he said before he picked up a bite of food, "Yeah, I guess you're right. After all, they all knew to come here to give Kagome the best kind of help, when she got hurt."

Kagome's mother smiled and thought to herself while Grandfather and Sota both ate their meal, "Kagome, I know Inuyasha will protect you. Just forgive him for what he has to do to bring you back safely if it is what I fear…" and then her thoughts were interrupted by Sota saying, "More please!" She nods to Sota and says, "Coming right up" before getting some more food and serving it to him.

(Feudal Era)

(Kaede's Village)

Kaede was standing outside her home, while Sango was talking to Kagome about Kagura and how that the next time she shows up, they have to work together as a team. This was difficult with Kagome being so cheerful and while she seemed to take everything at face value, she didn't seem to be focused on what she was being told for very long.

Miroku and Inuyasha were off getting some water so Sango could talk without either getting hugged by Kagome and hopefully allow Sango to bring Kagome around and make everyone's life easier. Shippou was off playing with some of the other kids in the village which he was popular in because of the cool toys that he had, some of which Kagome had given him.

Kaede closed her eyes and reminisced about her past with her sister. She could see it as if it were just yesterday. (Beginning of flashback) Kaede (8 years old) was walking along with her older sister, Kikyo who she looked up to and though she hadn't yet told her, she wanted to be a priestess just like her. Kaede walked through the field near what would become the Inuyasha forest in the future and smiled up at her sister, before she said, "Sister, can I hold your hand?" Kikyo stopped where she was and looked down at her sister and said, "Yes, come along now" before she turned back the way she was originally facing with her hand sticking out of her long sleeves and Kaede giggled as she took her older sister's hand before they started to walk again. Kaede looked up at her sister with silent admiration and Kikyo looked down with a slight smile at her younger sister, while her face remained close to stoic, her eyes spoke her true feelings and they were that she loved her younger sister. (End of flashback)

Sango looked at Kaede and said, "Kaede, sorry to interrupt but I think I have made some headway with Kagome." Kaede looked at Sango and said, "Did you now? Do Ye think Kagome will keep her hands off Inuyasha long enough for him to protect her?" Sango looked uncomfortable for a few moments before nodding a little and said, "I think so, I've made Kagome promise. We'll see if Kagome can remember it when the time comes."

Kaede looked at the door to her home and said, "Don't worry, I doubt that Kagome would willingly endanger any of Ye, that part she has not lost. She has a childlike innocence, the part that she has lost is her balance to that so it is only natural that she is more child than even Shippou."

Sango looked at Kaede before following her eye to her home and says, "Kagome stuck with me like it was the most natural thing over the mess with Kohaku, it is only fair that I stick by Kagome in her time of need as well." Sango looks through the partially open window and sees Kagome petting Kirara before adding, "Kagome has become like a sister to me, I could never leave her after all she's done for me… as far as I'm concerned, she is family." Sango turns to meet Kaede's eye as Kaede says, "Ye are family to the rest of as well Sango, and I would not be surprised if Ye feel about the same about all of us." Sango smiled at Kaede with watery eyes and said, "Thank you Kaede."

Sango thought of her brother and then thought of Kagome's brother Sota from when she was at Kagome's home and her gaze went to Kagome in Kaede's home. She thought to herself, "I don't want Sota to go through what I did when I lost Kohaku to Naraku, I won't lose Kagome to Naraku too."

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AN: Sorry that it took so long to post, but I've been very sick. In fact as of this posting I still am but I decided to get this chapter over with. Anyway, please read and review! Oh, and let me know what you think of Aneko and Negi, their role will also grow in this story. :)


	17. Family Love

**Chapter 16: Family Love**

**Story by: Eric Lentz**

(Feudal Era)

(Raimei Valley)

Soten looks up at Midoro with Koryu floating in the air not far behind her as he too looked up at her and says, "Are you sure you can't stay longer?" Koryu nodded and said, "Yes, please stay… I haven't been hit once since you've been here." Soten gives a Koryu a low grrrrr and looks at him angrily, which makes Koryu say, "I'm sorry!"

Midoro just giggles and thinks to herself that she can understand why her son spared Soten in battle and gave her the crayons. She puts her hand over her heart where a color drawing that Soten had given her remained in a pocket and then lowers her hand down to Soten as she says, "It is alright Soten, dear. I promise I will visit you again soon after I find my son Shippou."

Soten looks at Midoro in near tears, muttering, "I promised I won't cry…" but Midoro hears that and wraps both Koryu and Soten in her arms in a warm and loving hug which makes Soten hold out for barely a second before she bawls like the little kid that she is as she gives Midoro a big hug! Koryu gives a hug back in kind with his little hands and cries a little with tears flowing down his face. The three stay like that for some time before Midoro pulls back and wipes her own tears away that she'd had when hugging them.

Midoro looks down at the two and says, "I have to leave to find Shippou…looking down at them she gets an idea but I'm sure since Shippou is your friend, that he'd be happy to see you so why don't both of you come with me?" The light that went up on Soten's face was one of pure child happiness and Midoro secretly prayed and hoped that she would find such a smile waiting for her when she finds her son.

Soten smile was as bright as any flash of lightning she could produce and said, "That'd be great! I'll start getting ready right away!" Turning Soten said to Koryu, "Come and help me!" to which Koryu floated behind her and replied, "Coming!"

Midoro stood where she was by the entrance and smiled as she watched Soten run around, packing things up and disappearing from sight a few times, but it warmed her heart to hear the pitter-patter of a child's feet. She had missed hearing it for so long when she had to leave not long after having Shippou with her husband promising to raise him as the kind of boy that she'd be proud of. She smiled as she silently prayed a whisper to her husband, "Thank you for keeping your promise, both of them… remembering how he said he'd keep Shippou safe as well."

Midoro slowly closed her eyes and felt the familiar warmth of her husband's fox magic and a warm feeling of love, so she brought her hand up once again to over her heart, where Shippou was and feel a sense of fatherly pride. She knew Shippou would be a wonderful child when she met him and that his father would have raised him right.

Soten gathered up everything she could think of for a trip. She gathered water, food, clothes, the crayons, and all the drawings that she had created with them as well. Koryu packed a few things as well including a little bath toy that he liked to have whenever he went in the hot spring that they had nearby. After making sure she hadn't forgotten anything, she grabbed what she had and ran out to where she'd left Midoro and stopped where she was once she got within sight of her. Koryu who had been behind her and moving fast to keep up with her bumped into her back and said, "Hey! Give a dragon some warning before you stop like that!" Soten grabbed his mouth and said "Shut up!" in a hushed whisper before adding, "Look at Midoro!"

Koryu looked at what Soten was looking at and saw that Midoro had a very peaceful, loving expression on her face with one hand over her heart with her tails seeming to almost be floating as she was bathed in fox fire from head to toe to tail tip. The sight was one to behold for the two who just stood there for a while until the fire slowly dwindled out over the body but seemed to linger over the heart area the most before it too seemed to flicker into nothingness. The sight for the two of them left them speechless until Midoro slowly opened her eyes with her eyes downcast and looked up until she noticed them. She blushed a little and said after partially clearing her throat, "Are you two ready to go?" Hoping that they hadn't seen that, but judging from their expressions, she knew that they had.

The two stood there for but a few moments before Soten nodded and the she picked up her stuff that she'd dropped from when she had first noticed what was happening with Midoro. Soten smiled and said, "I'm ready to go!" thinking it was better not to ask what she was doing when she had seen that. Koryu however whispered to Soten, "What was that? What do you suppose she was she doing?" which got a prompt bop on the head and a whisper back, "Later! It isn't any of our business! Now shut up!" So, they all walked out the entrance with the sky doing it dance of lightning as usual until they were finally out of the valley.

(Feudal Era)  
(Secret Area)

Aneko is on her bed, and wiping her eyes after having cried for some time over the loss of her younger brother and father, both whom she loved. She lies there for some time until she finally makes a decision to go visit the village where they lived and pay her respects. So she gets up and starts to pack her stuff that she'll need for her trip when she hears someone approaching her door. She turns and tries to hide what she had been packing when the person stops at the door and a female voice says, "Aneko, are you alright? I could hear you crying."

Aneko gets up from where she'd been trying to hide and walks up to the door to pull it open, facing her best friend that she'd made since coming here. Looking into the eyes of her friend she says, "Sorry to worry you Kaede, I learned some bad news from Great Negi…" and she then turns to walk away from the door to sit onto the edge of the bed.

Kaede who knew her friend quite well walked in without further invite and sits on the bed beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "What's wrong? What kind of bad news?"

Aneko turned to her with red eyes and said, "Oh Kaede! Some demons attacked my village and have slain my father!" Her lower lip trembled as the other arm of her friend wrapped around her and pulled her closer while Kaede said, "Oh, No! I'm so sorry to hear that! What about your brother? Did he escape?"

Aneko turned to sob into Kaede's shoulder and cried, "I… think so but…. I heard he went seeking vengeance!" and then Kaede realized what she was being told, moving her left hand to the back of her dear friend and patted the head softly.

Kaede did her best to comfort her friend as she cried into her shoulder some more while softly saying, "Aneko… I'm sure your brother did his very best up to the end. You should be proud of him and remember the good times you shared with him."

Aneko pulled back and looked at Kaede and said loudly, "I should have been there!" and softly put her balled fist onto Kaede's chest as her voice trailed as she said, "I should have been there for them… for my brother… Shippou…" and ended there as all the crying and everything finally had taken its toll on her. She had fallen asleep while Kaede held onto her shoulders.

Kaede softly sighed and with her voice barely a whisper, she said, "Oh Aneko, I know you loved them so much. I think a good rest will be just what you need before you go visit them." Kaede knew her friend would want to visit her old home where her brother and father had been destroyed and made a silent promise to do whatever she could to help Aneko. Kaede then gently laid her friend back onto the bed and pulled the covers over her before sitting there and watching over her for the rest of the night in case she woke up and needed a friend.

(Feudal Era)

(Kaede's Village)

The stars twinkled brightly in the night sky, and Shippou was outside looking up at them on a grassy field. Shippou leans back and rests his hands upon the grass as his tail moves on instinct to keep from getting crushed in a painful way.

Shippou softly sighs as he watches the sky and thinks to himself, "The sky looks so clear and beautiful tonight." And then an image of his father floats before his eyes, overlapping the sky and somehow some of the stars seem to perfectly overlap key features of his father, with only a single word to escape his lips as he looked up to the night sky, "Father…"

Shippou sits like that for a while until Kagome approaches him from behind and says, "Shippou? Are you alright?" as she leans forward, putting her hands upon her knees to better look at his face.

Shippou looks up and sees Kagome before saying "Oh, Hi Kagome" and then lets his eyes wander to the night sky again as he says, "Just thinking of father. I miss him Kagome."

Kagome looks at Shippou for a few moments before she sits down by him and says, "I know Shippou, and I'm sure your father loved you very much." And then leans over to wrap him in a hug and running her hand over his head as if petting him. She couldn't resist it, Shippou was just so darn CUTE!

Sango came up and said, "There you are Kagome, I wondered where you wandered off to." Kagome looked up at Sango and said, "Shippou misses his father… and he's so darn cute!" with the last part a bigger, almost suffocating hug for Shippou!

Shippou tried to say through Kagome's arm that was covering his face, K-Kagome… I can't breathe…" but it was too muffled for her to hear, but Sango could see that he was uncomfortable and Sango put her hands on her hips to say, "Kagome! Remember what we talked about?" A pause as she remembered and then let go of Shippou quickly and blushed though it was hard to make out in the dark and said, "I'm so sorry Shippou!" her eyes watered, "I hope I didn't hurt you!"

Shippou said, "Well, it was a little hard to breathe but I'm alright." Kagome started crying with big tears launching from her eyes, "I'm sorry Shippou! I didn't mean it! I'll try not to do it again!" and before Shippou could say anything, Kagome got up and ran off with Sango in pursuit.

Shippou looked at the quickly departing women and said, "Kagome sure has been acting strange since we all went to her time. I wonder what's going on?" Shippou returned to stargazing and said, "I wish you were here Father, then maybe you could tell me what's going on with Kagome…" and just then a shooting star went across the sky. Shippou got all excited and said, "A shooting star! I gotta make a wish quick!" and so he made his wish.

* * *

AN: Well everyone? What do you think of this chapter? I thought about calling this one Shippou's Family but I liked "Family Love" better. Anyway, everyone will be busy next chapter so expect a fairly long one. What did you guys think of what happened with Midoro? There'll be more examples of her powers later. Aneko has some unshown abilities too, but you'll just have to wait and see! :) No flames for making Kagome cry, even kids cry. Well, I'll post again as soon as I can! hehehe!  



	18. Ties of Friendship

**Chapter 17: Ties of Friendship**

**Story by: Eric Lentz**

(Feudal Era)

(Secret Area)

Aneko wakes up to find her friend Kaede sitting up on edge of the bed in a slouched position, for she had fallen asleep watching over Aneko. Aneko grabs the sheets close to her face and thinks, "You're my best friend Kaede…" Aneko looks up at the young woman with the dark red hair that flows down to her shoulders and there is some hair covering her face, so she slowly sits up in the bed so she can reach out and brush the hair away from the face. However the motion of her hair getting moved is enough to wake her out of her light sleep and is greeted by the rich green eyes that open to greet her and she says, "Hi Aneko, did you sleep well?"

Aneko nods and says, "Yes, I'm sorry to worry you. I guess I just wore myself out with all the crying I did." Kaede shakes her hair and says, "Nonsense, I probably would have done the same thing if I were in your shoes." Kaede stands up and her twin fox tails swish in the air before she does a couple of stretches, with even the tails imitating her as she says, "Besides Aneko, I'm sure that you would have done the same for me. You're a good friend."

Aneko gets out of bed and says, "Thank you Kaede, but you know I can't stay then." Before she starts to pick up the stuff she'd been packing before Kaede came. Kaede smiles softly and nods, "Yes, I know and I'm coming with you." Aneko shakes her head and says, "You don't need to do that, I can do this on my own." As she turns to the door and takes a step forward before Kaede places a gentle hand upon her shoulder.

Kaede says as she meets her eyes when Aneko looks back, "I know, but what kind of friend would I be if I let you go off all on your own? You'll need someone to watch your back out there and you couldn't ask for a better traveling companion." Aneko smiles at her friend while still looking over her shoulder and says, "Ok… Do what you will but don't expect me to wait up if you fall behind."

Kaede laughs and wraps her arm around her neck and gives her a hug from behind, "Hey! You know you're the fastest fox around here! I've seen you run on top of water for a mile and barely got your tails wet!"

Aneko giggled and said, "Hey, can I help it if I was born with a talent for speed?" Aneko turned some to her friend and said, "Besides, you've got your talents too." And Kaede smiled at her as she said, "And don't you forget it!" as she poked Aneko and they both ended up laughing.

Kaede smiled as she released Aneko and said, "Well, I better get my stuff from my room before we head on out!" Aneko nodded and said, "Ok! Let's go!" and they walked out of the room and walked down a narrow hallway before Kaede said, "I'll race you to my room! I get a head start!" and took off down the hallway without another word before Aneko shouted after her friend, "Hey! No fair!" and ran off after her, using normal speed than her super speed to chase after her and it wasn't long before they ended up at Kaede's room since it wasn't all that far anyway.

Kaede packed up her stuff and with Aneko's help it went fairly quickly so in a short while they got everything they needed for their trip. Kaede smiled at Aneko and said, "Thanks for the help packing, Aneko."

Aneko placed a letter on the desk of Kaede and said, "You're welcome but it is I who should thank you for coming along with me. You're right that I will need someone as I travel and who could I ask for than my very best friend?" Kaede smiled and nods as she says, "What are best friends for?" They both left Kaede's room while everyone was at the great food hall getting breakfast and left the area quietly but they weren't unnoticed as Negi smiled a quiet smile as he watched them go.

(Feudal Era)

(Within Naraku's Shield)

Naraku watched from his room with his eyes set upon the mirror as he watched Kikyo wander through the forest to stop at a village and help the people who were injured by the war.

Kanna stands still where she is, allowing Naraku to watch Kikyo even as her two new sisters Kadoriko and Kagraku standing by her left side. She couldn't explain it but something was different about the two of them than the other incarnations that Naraku's had.

Kadoriko and Kagraku looks at the mirror with Kagraku saying, "Who is that woman, Naraku?" Naraku doesn't remove his eyes from the mirror for a few moments before he looks at her and says, "That is Kikyo, the original of who you are birthed from." Kagraku looks puzzled and says, "What do you mean? I thought I was created from the one called Kagome?"

Naraku says to Kanna, "Show me Kagome, Kanna" in a neutral voice before the image changes and shows Kagome outside with Kaede and Shippou in a field near the village. Kagraku's eyes widened a little and says, "They are identical!" With Naraku giving a evil little smile before saying, "That is because Kagome is the reincarnation of Kikyo, the spell that created you only affected Kagome because I used her blood. Kikyo has no blood because she is made of clay and bones, a living puppet that lives off the souls of others." Kadoriko looked at Kagome in Kanna's mirror and said, "Why didn't you destroy Kagome?"

Naraku simply turns his attention back to the mirror as he says, "That's enough questions for now. You two, go to your rooms until I send for you." And with that they both walk out of the room and down to their separate rooms but they don't go into them right away.

Kagraku is fuming and says, "Naraku better watch how he treats us, or I'm going to destroy him before I eliminate Kagome before she can reabsorb me." And Kadoriko nods to her sister in agreement before saying, "We are both fairly powerful, but I think Naraku has something over both of us or he wouldn't be treating us with such a casual attitude."

Kagraku thinks about that before saying, "You are probably right, but what could it be?" Just then Kagura steps forward and says, "Be careful you two, Naraku is no fool. He has had his incarnations try to eliminate him before so takes his precautions."

Kagraku frowns as she says, "You heard us talking did you…?" Kagura says, as she looks back and forth to the two of them, "Yes… and if you succeed in doing in Naraku, then I will be free of Naraku."

Kadoriko looks at Kagura, "What hold does he have on you?" Kagura opens her fan a little and says, "Naraku has my heart, so if I disobey him all he has to do is crush it and it is the of end me. I am of the wind, and I just want to be free like the wind."

Kadoriko and Kagraku look at each other briefly before thinking that they might have found a person who would help them accomplish their plans. Kadoriko approached Kagura and said, "Will you help us if it means freedom for you?"

Kagura looked at her and said, "I serve Naraku as long as he holds power over me. I have tried to escape his control once before and I was imprisoned for it." She turned to glance back at where Naraku would be and said, "I think he will absorb me back into him should I try to cross him again, and that is something I don't wish."

Kagura turns her head to look back at Kadoriko and says, "So, do as you will, but I can't help you unless he is gone or it goes with Naraku's orders somehow." Kagura turns her back to the two women and says as she walks away, "I wish you both luck." And the two look at her until she disappears from sight.

Kadoriko and Kagraku look at each other before Kagraku says, "I think we have an ally but only when Naraku's destruction is assured."

Kadoriko nods to her and says, "True, and I don't think we should destroy her right away. She may prove useful to us in some way."

Kagraku slowly but evilly grins, "Very well, but when the time comes I want the privilege of destroying her myself." Kadoriko looks at her sister and nods silently before turning to head into her room with Kagraku doing the same.

* * *

AN: Well, I plan on having another story put out before Christmas if I can. Happy Holidays to you all! :) Merry Christmas! What do you think about Kadoriko and Kagraku? I hope things are cleared up with Kaede the two-tail and the Kaede that we all know in Inuyasha are two seperate people. Why did I choose to use two similiar names? You'll just have to wait and find out! :)  



	19. Journey Towards Fate

**Chapter 18: Journey towards fate**

**Story by: Eric Lentz**

(Feudal Era)

(Outside Raimei Valley)

Midoro was walking along at an even pace with Soten by her left side and Koryu hovering behind her shoulder. She looks down at Soten who was looking a little happy, maybe even a little excited to her and she said to her, "Aren't you the happy one. Is this your first time you've been outside the valley?"

Soten looks up at her and replied, "No! Of course not! I've been out of the valley hundreds of times!" and puffed herself up to make herself look more tough and confident until the moment Koryu muttered to himself, "Yeah, if you count that it was only with her older brothers…"

Soten gasps as she hears that and gives Koryu a swift pow to the head for that. Soten grumbles to Koryu to keep his mouth shut while Midoro brings a hand up to her face to cover her smile and stifle a giggle. Soten looks up at Midoro and blushes a little as she says in hopes in changing the topic to something less embarrassing, "Um… Mrs. Midoro, what are you going to do when you find your son?" and she scratches the back of her head lightly.

Midoro's expression changes into a thoughtful, slightly sad one for a few moments before she says to Soten, "I… don't know. I have much to atone for with him." Midoro looks away from Soten, gazing forward as if already able to see her son before her before she continues, "I just hope he can forgive me."

Soten reaches up and grabs Midoro's hand while they walk and with energy she says, "I'm certain that he will! He is an honorable person! I think he'll be very happy to see you, no matter what your reasons were for leaving! He is a great warrior and your son, and all kids love their parents!" Midoro doesn't look down to Soten but she squeezes Soten's hand gently as if silently thanking her for those words.

Koryu floats up higher until he can rest a tiny paw on Midoro's shoulder, "I think Soten is right, Shippou is going to just love seeing his mother. He'll now have someone other than his friends after having lost his father to…" and trails off, not sure how to finish or that he should even try.

Midoro says as she turns her head to look at them both now, "Thank you both, you're right and if I can I'm going to make us a family again." Midoro gives them both a warm smile but doesn't let go of Soten's hand as they come up to within sight of a forest in their journey.

(Feudal Era)  
(Kaede's Village)

Kagome had been at the village for nearly a week now since returning and with help from all her friends, she had learned to control herself to the point where she didn't immediately try to start petting whatever was the cutest thing around her. It was around this time that Kaede approached Inuyasha and Sango while Miroku and Shippou stayed with Kagome to keep her distracted.

Kaede stares at Inuyasha with her one eye, and then stares at Sango before Inuyasha's patience wears out and says, "Get to the reason you called us out, old lady!" Kaede takes a slow breath and says, "Inuyasha, I know ye came here to help Kagome but I don't think ye will find the answers ye seek in this village. You will need to go out and seek them elsewhere."

Inuyasha turns his head as he crosses his arms and says, "Tell me something I don't know already!" Sango looks at Inuyasha for a moment before turning to Kaede to say, "What Inuyasha means to say is that we don't have any idea where to go. And if Naraku is really behind this then unless we can find him, there is nothing we can do for Kagome."

Kaede nods in agreement before saying to them both, "That I know, but if ye wish to make any progress then ye need to seek it and not let it come to you. Naraku may very well be waiting for you to leave and when that happens, a chance may appear for you to help Kagome."

Inuyasha grrrrs softly before turning back to Kaede and still keeps his arms crossed before saying to her, "And just where would you have us go? Naraku could be anywhere!"

Myouga the flea chooses that exact moment to come onto the scene by hopping up and starting to suck on Inuyasha's neck, "Master! It is so good to see you!" he cried out to Inuyasha before Inuyasha's hand squashes him, stopping the sucking of Inuyasha's blood. Myouga flutters like a peace of paper down from the neck to Inuyasha's hand before popping back into normal form.

Sango sees him and says, "Oh, it's Myouga! Where have you been lately? I haven't seen you for a week." Myouga looks up at Inuyasha and Sango as he says, "Master! Is this any way to treat your loyal servant?" turning his head to look at Sango he says, "That's because I've been out scouting for useful information that can help Kagome!"

Kaede looks at Myouga as she says, "Have ye come across something that might help Kagome, little one?" She doesn't get a chance to hear Myouga's reply because Inuyasha then growl-says, "That's it isn't it! You've found something that can help Kagome! Tell me right now Myouga!"

Myouga sits down on Inuyasha's hand and says, "I think I may have come across something useful, but I am not certain if it can help Kagome or not." Kaede says, "What is it Myouga? What did ye discover?" and Inuyasha looks down at Myouga with great impatience while Myouga takes his time in saying, "Well, I heard that there is a magical spring that can reverse all ailments and magical spells upon a person but it is fiercely guarded by a tribe of guardians."

Inuyasha growls, "Where is it Myouga! I don't care how many guardians there are protecting it, I'll take them all on if it means Kagome returns back to normal!" Kaede says, "Wait Inuyasha… Myouga, surely ye don't mean the sacred spring of the spark of life, do ye?"

Myouga nods and replies, "Yes, I do and I believe that given the severity of Kagome's changes, it is her best hope unless we can find Naraku and make him return Kagome back to normal!"

Myouga looks from Kaede to Inuyasha as he continues to speak, "Our chances of making Naraku return Kagome back to the way she was seems very unlikely unless we can either defeat him or we have to do something that he knows we'll never do as a favor in return." This makes Inuyasha grumble, "You're right, and Naraku has always escaped us before we could destroy him in the past."

Myouga nods as he says, "So true… so true…" before he then says to Inuyasha, "That's why I feel we should get allies and then attempt to get to the spring. I doubt even you could defeat the guardians as they are rumored to be very strong and many."

Kaede reaches out and puts her hand upon Inuyasha's shoulder as she says, "Inuyasha, I would heed Myouga's advice in this case. I know well of the stories surrounding that spring and only in very rare circumstances are any allowed near the spring. Even Naraku for all his power would not be able to reach the spring."

Inuyasha looks at Kaede and Myouga before Sango says, "Kaede, is there anything that you can tell us that may help us get in to the spring without fighting and risking Kagome?" Inuyasha looks at Kaede as she closes her eye and seems to be thinking for a few moments.

Kaede says, "In the stories that I know of, there is a chance that you could approach them peacefully and ask on Kagome's behalf. In what I know, they will most likely put you through a difficult test that will determine if you and Kagome are worthy of approaching the spring." She pauses and then with a serious look she says, "Inuyasha, in the stories those who fail the test, are never heard from again."

Inuyasha takes one look at Kaede's home where Kagome is and then after a pause he turns to Kaede and says, "I don't care, I promised to help Kagome and I will keep that promise!" Myouga looks at Inuyasha as he yells, "Master! Very few can past their difficult test! You'd have better luck fighting your way in!"

Sango says, "I think that if this is our best chance to help Kagome, we'll have to take it. After all, we don't have any other choice unless Naraku decides to return her back to normal on his own."

Kaede looks at Sango and nods, "That's true, and that seems very unlikely at present. I believe this may very well be Kagome's best chance, but ye better try the peaceful approach first or ye may very well risk destroying the spring by accident in ye battles."

Inuyasha looks thoughtful for a moment before he says, "Ok Kaede, we'll try it your way. Now where is this spring located?" Myouga hops up and down "Surely you're thinking of leaving for it right now! It is far away and you'll be crossing the territory of the wolf-demon clan!"

Inuyasha grrrrrs, "I can handle that wolf cub if he tries to interfere!"

Sango says, "Inuyasha, if we're going to be taking Kagome he's going to know something strange is with her the moment we run into him. And if we tell him, I think he'll let us through without fighting and time could be of the essence."

Inuyasha grrs before saying "Fine! I'll put up with the cub, but he better watch that mouth of his and not try anything funny with Kagome while she's like this." Sango nods and says, "We'll all make sure that Kagome's all right, because you know you can count on all of us Inuyasha."

Inuyasha turns to Sango and says, "Let's get Kagome and go, the sooner we get going, the sooner Kagome will be back to herself." Sango nods and says, "Ok, Inuyasha" before they all turn while Myouga is hopping on Inuyasha's shoulder and saying, "Master Inuyasha! At least pick up some allies before we get there! You never know if you're going to need them!" Inuyasha simply raises a hand and flicks Myouga off his shoulder, sending him flying into a nearby wall.

(Feudal Era)

(At a river some distance from a forest)

Aneko and Kaede are taking a break and trying to catch the fish that would become their breakfast but the fish were being unusually slippery or maybe it was just because they were all tired and hungry because they'd left when everyone else was eating their supper last night. Even though they had brought food, the sight of the fresh fish in the river was too tempting an offer to pass up.

Aneko was the first to catch one that was about mid-sized while Kaede quickly caught one right after her that was a bit bigger. Aneko shouts, "I caught one!" and shows it off until she sees Kaede's catch and pouts as Kaede giggles and teases, "Don't feel bad, maybe we can use yours as bait for a bigger one."

Aneko smiles big and says, "I bet I can catch a bigger one than you" to which Kaede grins "Loser has to clean up afterwards?" Aneko nods and says, "Deal girlfriend" before tossing her fish perfectly into the container she had set up to hold her breakfast in and Kaede does likewise.

Within the next half-hour, both Aneko and Kaede catch a number of fish, far too many for both of them to eat for breakfast. In the end, it was Aneko who ended up being the winner with a fish that was a fin bigger than the biggest one Kaede caught.

Aneko leans back onto the grass by the river and slowly rubs her tummy and says, "Ohhhh… I think I ate too much. I don't know if I'll ever move again." Aneko opens an eye before looking at Kaede and smiling at the big mess of fish bones beside her. "Remember our deal, loser has to clean up." Aneko says to Kaede with just a little bit of a tease in her voice.

Kaede smiles, almost as stuffed as Aneko was and says to her, "Ok, I'll clean up as soon as I can move again."

Aneko laughs, "No fair stuffing yourself as much as me to avoid cleaning up!" Kaede smiles and says, "Oh darn, you saw through my plan. What ever will I do?" and they both end up laughing together.

Some time passes before Kaede gets up and slowly does a few stretches with her tail swishing about in the air while Aneko lightly dozes on the grass. Kaede starts to clean up all the fish stuff before Aneko wakes up and slowly gets up to and starts to help her with what's left without needing to ask. With the two of them working together they both finish up quickly.

Aneko looks at Kaede and grins, "I'll race you Kaede!" Kaede smiles and says, "Only if you let me get a head start!" and then Aneko stands where she is as Kaede takes off towards the edge of the forest where a somewhat used path that leads around there to a village. When it looks like Kaede has a big enough start, Aneko takes off with a big WHOOOOOOSH! And easily catches up to her friend just as they catch sight of some wolf-men at the edge of the forest.

* * *

AN: Well, here is the chapter BEFORE the excitement! :) You'll all get to see Koga, Kagome, Miroku, Sango, Shippou, and all the rest wandering about meet up in my next chapter! However the next chapter is going to be a LONG one unless I decide to break it up, which I may yet decide on doing. To all my friendly and loyal readers as well as fans of Inuyasha I just want to say Thank You for all your reviews and support up to this point. I really appreciate it and would like you all to continue to support me in your reading and with all your helpful reviews. :) Until the next chapter! See you all! :)  



	20. Fateful Meetings

**Chapter 19: Fateful Meetings**

**Story by: Eric Lentz**

(Feudal Era)  
(Koga's Territory)

Koga was out with the two that he usually was with, enjoying the power of the jewel shards that were embedded in both his legs, which unfortunately left the other two behind him often gasping for air as they tried their best to keep up.

Koga often heard their pleas for him to slow down but it felt so GOOD when he ran using the power of the shards and often he was focused with such single-minded determination that he couldn't wait to do what needed to be done as a leader. He was still young after all and felt like he had much to prove to even his own pack.

Koga suddenly stopped where he was and started to sniff the air, and this gave the two following him time to catch up to him so that they could catch their breath. Koga glanced at the two as they panted like two overheated wolves and said, "Do you smell that?" The two barely stood up from their hunched over positions and one said weakly, "Smell what Koga?"

Koga turned to face them and said, "There are a few demon scents approaching our territory." The one of the Ginta said, "But Koga, just because they're approaching doesn't mean they're coming to cause trouble."

Koga gave him a stare and said angrily, "I know that! But two of them share almost the same scent as the fox child that hangs around with that mutt, Inuyasha!" This gave two wolf-men a pause, before they looked at each other and one said to the other, "I thought he was an orphan when his father was destroyed in a battle with the Thunder Brothers?" The other answered back, "Yeah, I thought so too."

Koga kept sniffing the air, "Well, one of the fox scents is joined by one I'm not familiar with but it is coming from that direction." Koga then points in the general area that which lays Raimei Valley in which coming from could easily be seen a fox woman and a small child with a tiny thing too far away to be easily identified. Then Ginta says, "Hey, that is where the Thunder Brothers lived."

Koga looked surprised and said, "What? You sure about that?" Ginta replies, "Yeah, I remember heading out there once with a scouting party to see if we could expand our territory to there and only two of us were the only ones to return."

Koga stared in the direction and said aloud, "Why would a demon from the Thunder Clan becoming this way now?" Ginta said, "I don't know, do you think we should do something Koga?" Then Hakkaku said to Koga, "I think we should warn the others Koga."

Koga turns away and says, "I think you're right…" trailing off and then sniffing the air, with the other two joining him this time. After a pause, Ginta said, "Isn't that the scent of Sister Kagome?" Then Koga softly growls, "Yeah, and the scent of that mutt-face is with her."

Hakkaku says, "Koga do you think we should…?" but before he could finish his sentence, Koga was off running. The two looked at each other and then Ginta said, "What were you going to say?"

Hakkaku said, "I was going to ask Koga if we should tell the fox child about the other two scents approaching the forest?" Then Ginta looked at Koga's direction and said, "Hey! He's leaving us behind!" and they both took off after Koga.

(Feudal Era)

(Outside forest)

Aneko was running alongside her friend and said to her, "Hey, do you see what I see?" Kaede looks ahead and nods, "Yeah, it looks like some wolf demons are in a bit of a hurry."

Aneko grins at her friend in a mischievous way and says, "How about we show them that they're no match for the Guardians?"

Kaede looks back at her friend and nods, "Girl, I like the way you think. Let's go show them a thing or two!" and they start to run faster together. Running side-by-side they catch up to the two trailing Koga, Ginta and Hakkaku.

Kaede smiles at Ginta and says, "Hiya cutie, what's a wolf-man demon like you running away from us?"

Ginta gets flustered and says to her, "Uh-um… we're…" and then looks to Hakkaku who takes over and says, "We're following Koga our leader. He's just ahead but he's too fast for us to keep up with."

Hakkaku points ahead with his right hand and both Aneko and Kaede look ahead to see a swirling mass of wind. Kaede raises her eyebrows and says, "That's HIM? He's so fast! I don't think I could catch up to him."

Aneko frowns as she sees Koga and takes it as a personal challenge, one that she cannot pass up! Aneko says to Kaede without looking at her, "You can stay here if you want Kaede but I'm going to show their leader what REAL speed is!" and with those words she starts to move much, much faster.

Hakkaku, Ginta, and Kaede watch as she leaves them all in the dust and Ginta says to Kaede, "How is she doing that? Does she have jewel shards in her legs too?" Kaede runs alongside Ginta more closely and gives him a seductive look, "Now what would you know about jewel shards, cutie?" and reaches out to run her finger along his chin.

Ginta blushes and looks flustered once again, not sure how to answer for about a 100 feet of their running while Hakkaku looks at his friend with a bit of envy before saying, "Our leader Koga has some jewel shards in his legs from a sacred jewel that once was guarded by Priestess Kikyo." With some frustration Kaede decided that she had to hear more. Kaede paused in her flirting with Ginta, and she turned her attention to Hakkaku to say, "The sacred jewel? How did he get a hold of them?"

Ginta seemed to have recovered his voice, which was still somewhat shaky as he says, "We don't know, he never told us and it isn't healthy to get Koga angry so we never asked." Ginta gulped silently as Kaede turned her attention back towards him after giving a musing glance at the direction of Koga and Aneko.

Koga was running very fast and was surprised when Aneko caught up to him and came to end up running side by side to him.

Aneko smiled and said, "Hey there, your speed is pretty good! I almost had a hard time catching up with you!"

Koga looked at Aneko in his surprise and said, "What are you doing? Who are you?" Aneko gave him a mischievous smile and said, "To find that out, you'll have to catch me!" and turned on him quickly in another direction, moving even faster than before!

Koga looked for a moment in Kagome's direction and figured that since they were already headed towards him he could spare a few minutes to catch up to that upstart of a vixen and show her just what real speed was!

Koga starts chasing after Aneko and she laughs ahead of him, "Is that the best that you can do? You'll never catch me like that!" The taunts work and he pours on even more speed, eventually catching up to her and grabbing her by the arms to try to get her to slow down. Koga says to her, "Who are you? Give me your jewel shards!" and at that point, their very fast legs happen to crisscross, tripping them and they fall into a long skidding mess on the ground with Koga on top of her.

Koga and Aneko both open their eyes about the same time and with the closeness of their faces, they got a good look into each other's eyes. Aneko's heart starts to thump in her chest more than it would just because she'd been running hard and her tail swishes under her just a little while Koga starts to feel strange himself.

Koga had never had feelings like this, while on a back train of thoughts that hadn't quite reached his conscious thoughts, he was wondering, "who she was, how did she move so fast, and why did he feel the way he did?" and when they all met up in, he snapped out of the long pause that the two of them had been in as they stared in each other's eyes with all the questions that had been on the backtrack now his forethoughts.

The two of them had been staring so long that they failed to notice that other people had arrived until a throat was cleared. When they snapped out of the deep stares into each other's eyes, they looked at how they were positioned.

Immediately both Koga and Aneko blushed very red and they tried to scramble to a more dignified position. As Koga scrambled backwards, Aneko leaped up and pushed him away at the same time hard enough that rolled backwards and landed on his butt, rubbing the back of his head for a moment.

Koga and Aneko both looked at the people who had caught them staring into each other's eyes. Koga looked forward and saw Kagome and her traveling companions with Sango looking like she wanted to be anywhere but near Miroku at that moment seeing the look that he was giving her.

Shippou was in the cart that was on Kagome's bike and Kagome was trying to cover his eyes while watch, but Shippou kept dodging her hands.

Inuyasha looked at Koga with a confident almost happy look to him, and then Koga became nervous when he realized how it must have looked to Kagome!

Aneko looked at Koga for a few moments more, watching his face go through so many emotions and she thought to herself, "He is so cute, I could watch his face change expressions all day." Just then Aneko realizes that Koga is looking at someone, her nose picking up their scent as well as she brings herself out of the gaze she had been giving Koga.

Inuyasha has his arms crossed in his kimono and says to Koga, "Who is she Koga? Your new woman?"

Aneko blushes as one some part of her she didn't like the label; on another she liked the thought of it as well. Koga on the other hand wasn't too happy at all and says, "Kagome! It isn't what it looks like! Believe me!"

Inuyasha sounding smug says, "It is about time you found a woman of your own if you ask me." Koga was overwhelmed with anger and hops to his feet, "What was that mutt? Are you looking for a fight?"

Inuyasha doesn't back down but nor does he put his hand on his sword, "Anytime you want, but if I were you I'd take your woman out of here before she shoots you with one of her arrows."

Kagome gets mad at Inuyasha, as she couldn't believe the two of them! Kagome turns to Inuyasha and says in a loud, firm voice, "Inuyasha! SIT!!!" and so Inuyasha's beads around his neck glow brightly for a few moments before he is pulled down by the intensity of her SIT! Command.

Inuyasha leaves a nice little human-sized crater in the ground but for a change Inuyasha doesn't grumble or apologize, he simply looks at Koga with those eyes that read, "Kagome's my woman, not yours!"

During all of this Shippou had been curious about the woman that Koga had been with, she looked a bit familiar but he couldn't quite place her and she wasn't exactly looking in his direction either. Aneko watched Koga and Inuyasha before Koga apologized to Kagome once again and took off leaving in his wake the twister so often associated with his running.

Miroku looked at the confused vixen and started to walk towards her, passing Sango and she suddenly gets what Miroku is up to and follows him, trying to keep him from doing what she knows as most commonly asked question.

Aneko stands up and has her back to Miroku and the rest as she watches Koga run and Miroku says, "Excuse me Miss?"

Aneko half turns to look at Miroku, and sees that there is a monk approaching her. Still looking at him she says, "What is it Monk?" Miroku stops before her as Sango tells him not to do this. Aneko is puzzled until she hears the next words, "Miss, would you please bear my children?"

Aneko's face changes subtly as she slowly lowers her eyelids to give him the look of a cool, yet upset person and her voice reflects the icy chill as she replies, "Monk, I do not, nor would I have any desire to mate with such a idiotic, lecherous, and unfaithful person such as yourself. My father, Hitoshi raised me better than that."

Miroku, who has heard just about every reply imaginable, including that one is about to reply while remaining in a cool demure is shocked when Shippou leaps forward out of Kagome's basket and shouts, "Aneko! Is that really you??"

Aneko turns fully towards the voice see a small fox-child and her brain goes into a small kind of shock. Her eyes in disbelief as they tear up at the same time, "Sh-Shippou? Is that really you?" Shippou runs up to Aneko before looking up at her and starts to get watery eyed as well.

Miroku says, "Shippou, do you know this woman?" and Shippou nods before he says, "She's my sister!" and with that both Shippou and Aneko leap towards each other and Aneko wraps him up tight in her arms, squishing her younger brother against her face where he wraps his small arms around her neck and holds her just as tightly with tears flowing freely.

Kagome smiles and says "Oh, how wonderful! Shippou is reunited with his sister!" and a confused Inuyasha pushes himself out of the Inuyasha-like crater and stands to his feet as he says, "I thought the thunder brothers destroyed all of his family?"

Kagome looks at Inuyasha and says, "I guess Shippou thought so too, but now he's found family! I'm so happy for him!" and wraps arm around Inuyasha's arm, pulling him closer to her. Inuyasha is slightly embarrassed by the display but manages to mutter a low "Whatever… " And just watches the two of them still crying over each other.

Miroku and Sango watch as Shippou and Aneko slowly stop crying and come to look at each other while still holding onto each other. Miroku looks at Sango and says, "Maybe we should give them some time to catch up. I am sure that they have much to catch up on." Sango nods to Miroku and says, "I agree, lets go join Kagome and Inuyasha." Miroku silently nods and turns to walk towards Kagome and Inuyasha with Sango but before they get halfway there Shippou notices that they're walking away.

Shippou looks at his friends and points at them with a hand as he looks back and forth between them and says loudly, "Sister! These are my friends, they helped take care of me and avenge father!"

Aneko smiles at Shippou's friends and gives a little bow with him in her arms still and says, "Thank you all, I am very deeply indebted to you for all that you've done. If there is anything that I can ever do to repay any of you, all you need to do is but ask." Aneko looks at all of his friends, memorizing their faces and on some level gauging the type of friends he's made and judging from their reactions she could tell he's made some friends that will stay with him forever.

Kagome smiles as she says to Aneko, "Oh, you don't need to do anything like that. Shippou's been great to have around!"

Miroku nods and says, "Yes, and Shippou has even been a big help in some of our adventures." Sango adds in, "Shippou is the one to trust when we need something done or to watch over some of the people we help."

Inuyasha looks at Shippou and says, "Yeah, when we can't trust a certain person to be around the women." Miroku turns to look at Inuyasha with a slightly pained expression and says, "Inuyasha! There is no reason to be telling her that." Everyone just laughs and Aneko smiles as she sees the strong friendship shown by everyone.

Shippou hops out of his sister's arms and looks up at her, "Everyone here is my friend and part of a team on a big and noble quest!" Aneko smiles and says, "A noble quest you say, Little Fire? What is it?"

Shippou looks embarrassed and says, "Ah! Aneko you know I hate that nickname!" Aneko giggles and says, "Sorry Shippou, old habits die hard." Shippou puts his hands on his head and shakes it about looking embarrassed still as Kagome giggles and says, "Shippou, I think it is a cute nickname!"

Aneko looks at Kagome and says, "Yeah, he got that nickname because when he was little and learning how to use fox magic, all he could produce was the tiniest of fox flames no bigger than his finger. He was so adorable in his frustrations that I called him that and then when father laughed, saying that he liked the name, it just kind of stuck to Shippou."

Shippou looked up at his sister and said, "Aneko, you know very well that the other kids heard about my nickname and would call me that whenever they wanted to tease me!"

Aneko looked at him, seeing him all upset and she didn't care, as she was still very happy to just even see him alive! "Shippou, all that made you want to improve your fox magic didn't it? And before I left, you had already made your flame much bigger than a I had when I was your age."

Shippou looks at his sister and says, "I improved my fox magic to prove to you that I could do it! When you left the village and didn't return, I thought you had perished!"

Aneko nods sadly and says to him, "I know Shippou. That is the way it was supposed to be." Shippou looks at her and says, "Why? What happened that made you have to leave us?" Aneko's eyes begin to tear up a little as she shakes her head, "I… can't tell you, even now. I am bound by my honor and word that I can't tell you. Only the one who bound me can allow me to tell you the answers you seek."

Shippou looks at his sister, not sure what else to say but Kagome looks at Aneko and says, "So Aneko, where are you headed?" Aneko walks towards Kagome and says, "I was on my way to the village where Shippou and I used to live to pay my respects to father and Shippou." Looking down at Shippou, "I thought they both had perished fighting and it broke my heart when I found out."

Everyone in the group knew her pain and quietly gave her a few moments to compose herself before anyone spoke again. It was Miroku who spoke first with a gentle clearing of his throat first, "Well, we could join you on your journey and then head on to the magical spring to help Kagome."

Aneko smiles and says, "Thank you everyone." And looks down at Shippou, reaching out with a hand as she says, "Shippou, will you hold hands with me?" Shippou looks reluctant and says, "I'm a big boy now! I don't hold hands!"

Aneko sighs softly and they all start to walk in the direction of Shippou's village before Shippou reaches up and grabs her hand. Surprised and pleased, Aneko looks down at Shippou with a soft, sisterly smile while Shippou looks forward but if she could see his face, she would have seen a smile there as well.

(Feudal Era)

(On path towards a village)

As Midoro walks with her two young companions she notices that there was a lot of activity nearby and looks down to Soten to say, "I think there is trouble nearby, we should pick up the pace and get to the village as soon as possible." Soten nods to her and says, "Ok, let's hurry then!" and starts to run with Midoro.

With all three of them running, they make good time until they see a twister very rapidly approaching them from the side. Midoro turns her head towards Soten and her friend before she then pushes Soten out of the way as she yells, "Look out!" Soten lands on her side with her friend clinging onto her shoulder, while Midoro dives in the other direction, narrowly being hit by Koga with his eyes closed.

Kaede, Ginta, and Hakkaku run right up to them and they pause with Hakkaku saying, "Sorry about this, he's not acting like himself right now." And Ginta yells, "Koga! Wait up!" before they both start running after him again.

Kaede yells after Ginta, "I'll catch you later Cutie!" waving her right hand at their disappearing forms.

Ginta blushes as he looks back and waves in return but doesn't say a word as he races after their leader.

Hakkaku looks at Ginta and says as they chase after Koga, "Aren't you the lucky one? She seems very fond of you." Ginta glances at Hakkaku and says, "Aw, leave me alone!" and blushes as he thinks of her.

Ginta thinks to himself, "Why me? She is so beautiful… she leaves me speechless and my tummy feels strange whenever I'm around her." Ginta snaps out of his thoughts and reassumes his focus on catching up with their leader Koga.

Meanwhile back with Midoro and the other two, Kaede bows and says, "Sorry about that, I don't know what is going on with their leader."

Midoro gets up and dusts herself off, using her tail to dust herself off as well. Midoro says, "It is alright, no harm done and I doubt it was intentional since he wasn't looking where he was going."

Kaede frowns a little as she thinks, "Where have I seen her before. She seems very familiar to me."

Soten jumps up to her feet and yells, "Well you better tell that guy that the next time I see him I'm going to give him a piece of my mind! The nerve of him almost running over us like that!"

Kaede looks down at Soten, "Aren't you a cute little kid, acting so tough." And then runs her fingers through Soten's hair. Soten brushes off Kaede's hand and says angrily, "I am not a kid!" Soten steps back out of Kaede's reach and glares up at her. Kaede just smiles at Soten and then looks at the trio before saying, "I guess I should introduce myself, I am Kaede Nyoko."

Midoro thinks to herself, "That name is familiar…" before Kaede says, "Where are you all headed?" and gets her thoughts interrupted. Midoro looks back at Kaede and says, "We're headed for the village that is nearby. Where are you going?"

Kaede says, "I am headed for the same village. Mind if I join you? I was traveling with a friend and she is also headed for the same village. That is, before we got separated by the wolf demons, one of who was the one that nearly ran over your small boy here."

Soten fumes and says, "I'm not a boy! I'm a girl! And I have a name, it is Soten!" before crossing her arms and glaring at Kaede.

Midoro looks at Kaede and Soten, thinking about what she was to say before she finally said, "Kaede, would you like to join us to the village?"

Soten looks at Midoro and says loudly, "What? Why are you inviting her along?" Midoro turns to face Soten and says to her, "Because it is the proper thing to do. She is alone and it would be safer to take her to the village than allow her to travel the way by herself."

Soten looks at Kaede as she tries to put on her most friendly and inviting face before she says, "I still don't like her, but alright." And turns away from her, before hearing Kaede say, "Thank you Soten, and I'm sorry for calling you a boy earlier."

Soten turns to look at Kaede and looks at her, still a little fuming but after a few moments she says, "Ok, I accept your apology. I guess you can travel with us until we reach the village." Soten turns towards the village and walks up to stand beside Midoro before looking up at her and saying, "Can we get going now?"

Midoro nods to Soten as she says, "Yes, lets continue our journey now." Kaede catches up to the three of them and with Soten in the middle, Kaede and Midoro walk towards the village with the three of them making light conversation until they finally can see the village.

* * *

AN: Sorry this chapter took so long but I think you'll agree that it was worth it. :) The next chapter coming up should be a good one for all of you. So to quote someone... On with the show! :) 


	21. Village Reunions

**Chapter 20: Village Reunions**

**Story by: Eric Lentz**

(Feudal Era)

(Outside the Village)

Inuyasha is walking alongside Kagome as she walks her bike and enjoying the slow pace. Sango and Miroku walk along side each other with a respectable distance between them so Miroku can't rub her rear. As everyone walks along quietly, listening to Aneko and Shippou talk to each other and catching up with all that's happened with Kagome giggling and looking at Inuyasha with big eyes that made Inuyasha blush and feel very uncomfortable.

Inuyasha didn't quite know how to handle Kagome while she was like this. Inuyasha wasn't quite sure how to act while she was so… happy. He knew that she loved him and he knew that he loved her, but he felt wrong to take advantage of it while Kagome wasn't herself.

Kagome stopped and parked her bike outside the village before continuing on with her arm crooked around Inuyasha's and her head leaning against his shoulder with a blushing Inuyasha that scratched his head in 'dog-scratching-ear' kind of way every so often. Kagome noticed and thought he was so cute that way, which just made her love him even more!

Sango and Miroku noticed what Kagome was doing, but before Sango could do anything about it, Miroku put his hand upon her shoulder and simply said, "Leave them be…" Biting her lower lip for a moment and casting a glance at the couple she stepped back with a silent nod to allow Kagome and Inuyasha their time together but she didn't like the glamorous look that she'd get from Miroku. Sango had a feeling she knew what was going through the head of Miroku and she was divided on whether she liked it or not.

Shippou whispered to Aneko about Inuyasha and Kagome's relationship, trying to keep it low enough so that Inuyasha wouldn't hear. Shippou didn't need to worry though because Inuyasha was too embarrassed and wrapped up in Kagome hanging on her arm to be listening.

(Inside the Village)

As Kagome and her friends walked into the village, hardly anyone noticed them. This isn't saying that they weren't noticed, just not by ones who had been part of the village for a short time. A woman gasped as she recognized Shippou and ran off quickly to tell someone while they continued their casual pace through the village unheeded until they reached where Shippou's home once stood.

Inuyasha said as they stood in front of Shippou's home, "They really did a number on this place." Which got Shippou upset and he yelled, "They destroyed my home because my father tried to do the right thing and defend the village!"

Kagome stepped back and simply said, "Sit boy!" but there wasn't any force behind it and so Inuyasha merely just hit the ground and didn't make a crater like he was used to. Inuyasha looked up at Kagome and said, "What'd you do that for!" Kagome looked at Inuyasha with big, teary eyes and said, "Can't you see how hard this is for Shippou! His home was destroyed!"

Inuyasha looked at those eyes and jumped up to his feet quickly to apologize before she turned on the waterworks, as he hated to see Kagome cry, "I'm sorry Kagome! Just don't cry ok?" Kagome sniffles and says, "Are you really sorry?" with Inuyasha nodding and saying, "Yes, I am Kagome." Kagome wipes the tears away with her hands and says, "Ok… I won't cry"

Shippou is about to say something when Aneko looks down at him and says, "Shippou, I think we should go to where Father is and pay our respects." Shippou nods at his bigger sister and says, "You're right Aneko"

Just then Inuyasha looked backwards with his hand upon his sword and Miroku said, "A group is coming…" They all look in the direction, ready for anything when an old man and a younger woman walk up to them followed by some of the villagers that Aneko and Shippou knew from their time living there.

Aneko bows and says, "Village Elder, it is good to see you. I'm glad that the Thunder Brothers didn't take your life." The Elder smiles as he holds onto his cane for support and says, "Aneko, is that really you? I thought you'd been slain! It is good to see you again after all these years."

The Elder then looks at Shippou and says, "Ah, it is good to see you as well Little Fire…" to which Shippou looks upset but doesn't say anything in protest. The Elder slowly looks over the group that Aneko and Shippou are with and says, "Are these your friends?"

Aneko nods, smiling as she says, "Yes, Village Elder. They are also the ones who helped take care of Shippou until we were able to be reunited again."

The Village Elder smiles a little more and says, "Very well then, any friends of yours are most certainly welcome as friends in this village." Turning his head to the woman beside him he says, "Will you go and prepare a meal for our new friends? And a place to sleep as well." She nods before saying, "Yes, Elder" and walks off into the crowd, disappearing.

The Village Elder turns to head towards his home and starts to walk slowly when Aneko notices how he is walking. Aneko walks up to his side and says, "May I help you Elder?" and without saying anything he nods and moves to lean upon her so that she can support him.

Inuyasha mumbled something about taking forever just low enough that Kagome almost caught it. He looked at Kagome and noticed that she was still a little teary so he decided not to say anything until they got to the Elder's home. Sango and Miroku continued to follow along behind Inuyasha and Kagome and failed to notice a small flea leaping through the crowd and come to rest upon Sango's shoulder.

(At Village Elder's Home)

The woman was there and bowed in a greeting "Welcome to the Elder's home everyone. I have prepared a meal and set out beds in case anyone is tired." The Elder smiled and said, "Thank you Sayo for your assistance."

Sayo smiled a little as she said, "You're welcome Elder." Sayo turned to everyone and said, "Please follow me to where I've prepared the meal." And then she started to walk down the long corridor until she reached a door and pulled it aside. Sayo says to everyone, "I hope you all enjoy the meal I've prepared."

Everyone walks into the room but they all stop when Miroku stops at the Sayo and takes her hands into his to say, "Miss, I was wondering if you'd like to bear my child." Which gets a prompt hit on the head by Sango's weapon causing him to let go of her hands. Sango says, "Knock it off Miroku!" before dragging Miroku away from the woman.

Everyone sits down at the table and it is Kagome who is the first to say anything, "Wow! Everything looks so good!"

Inuyasha looks at the spread on the table and says, "Yeah! I can't wait to dig in!"

Shippou and Aneko who are sitting by each other on one side of the table smile at each other and then Shippou says, "Just like old times isn't it Aneko?" Aneko nods, "Yep! Sure is!"

With Miroku and Sango sitting across from Shippou and Aneko, Miroku looks at Sayo to say, "Please express my thanks to the cook for all this wonderful food before us." Sango is keeping a look at Miroku that silently says, "I dare you to flirt with her with me right here." Miroku thinks to himself, "I better behave myself, Sango looks pretty angry at me."

So, with a quick "Itadakimasu!" everyone starts to deal into the meal. As everyone starts eating, Sayo starts to walk away and hears a few dueling for certain food when their chopsticks meet before she closes the door.

Sayo walks silently down the corridor where she sees Aoi heading her way and stops in front of her to say, "I think your meal is a big hit Aoi. Everyone already fighting over your food." And says the last part with a playful smile.

Aoi smiles and says, "I'm glad that I was already starting to cook when you came back to tell me how many more people to expect or there wouldn't have been enough to go around."

Sayo nods to her and says, "Well, I better go back soon to see if any of them need anything at the rate that they're going at." Sayo smiles and says, "Oh, and you'll never believe who's in the group!"

Aoi giggles and says, "Oh? Who? One of your old boyfriends?" Aoi was just teasing because of the two of them Sayo seemed to get a boyfriend for almost every other month while Aoi merely had only one boyfriend whom she dated only a few times since the Thunder Demons incident.

Sayo play-pouts and says, "Aoi! You know my boyfriends don't come to the elder's for meals!" Sayo crosses her arms and closes her eyes as she says, "Just for that I won't tell you who is here!" Sayo really wanted to tell her friend and was practically bursting but she also wanted her friend to guess.

Aoi shakes her head and says, "Ok Sayo, I apologize! Now will you tell me?" Sayo opens one of her eyes and a slow smile spreads on her face before she opens the other eye. "You'll never guess in a million years! So I'll just tell you." Sayo uncrosses her arms and grabs her friend's hands as she says, "Shippou is here! And so is Aneko! They're both alive and unharmed!"

Aoi trembled in her friend's hands as she says with a light tremble in her voice, "Sayo, if this is some kind of joke… it is a bad one." Sayo shakes her head and says, "No joke! Go see for yourself if you don't believe me!" Aoi's eyes just stared at her friend's face to see if she was joking and after a minute, she decided that Sayo wasn't joking. Her mind wandered back to when she'd seen Shippou's mother and her eyes widened just a little as she thought to herself, "Shippou, Aneko probably didn't know that Midoro was alive still!"

Aoi pulled her hands back from her friend and said, "Thank you, I think I will…" and very slowly made her way to the room where everyone was eating while Sayo continued on to the kitchen to get refreshments for everyone. Sayo came back and saw Aoi peeking through a barely opened door to spy on Shippou and Aneko.

Sayo looked at her friend and softly said, "Why don't you go in?" Aoi looked back and said, "I… I couldn't… I failed Midoro when I couldn't keep Shippou safe during the attack. What if Shippou is mad at me?" Sayo looked at her friend and then said, "Well, then could you move so I can go in and deliver this?" Aoi moved out of Sayo's way and Sayo grabbed the door to open it with such quickness that Aoi was shocked as the two of them were revealed.

Everyone looked up at the suddenness of the door opening and that was when Shippou saw Aoi and said, "Hi Aoi! I've missed you!" and got up to go over her and give her a hug. Aoi wrapped her arms around Shippou and said, "You're not… mad at me?"

Shippou looked at Aoi with a puzzled look at her as he replied, "What would I be mad about?" Aoi hugged Shippou tighter and said; "I… couldn't protect you from the attacks that destroyed your father."

Shippou looked at her and said, "You got so badly injured when they destroyed the house on us. You did everything that a human could do so don't worry. I'm not upset and you gave me a chance to meet my friends here." Shippou hopped out of her arms and then grabbed her to pull her closer and then introduced them all to her starting with Kagome.

(At Shippou's old home)

Midoro, Soten, Koryu and Kaede all arrive at the house and see that it is exactly as Midoro had left it. A very charred mess and seeing it makes Midoro very sad as she thinks about her husband who was lost in the battle.

Soten looks up at Midoro and says, "Is this where you used to live?" While the little Koryu floated over the charred debris and thought to himself, "Wow, this place has seen better days."

Midoro slowly nods her head and says, "Yes, Soten… this is where I used to live once upon a time." Pulling her eyes away from the mess she looks at Soten and says, "This is where I used to live with my husband and our two children, one of who you're familiar with I believe." The last part she says with a little mischievous twinkle in her eye as she looks down at Soten, which makes her blush a little.

Kaede frowns as she looks at the house, thinking to herself, "I've been here, I think… why does all this seem familiar to me." She slowly swishes her tail in thought until she notices a kid trying to grab at the tip of her tail and almost succeeding a couple of times. She smiles as she pretends not to notice while continued to let her tail move tauntingly close to the child's hands and getting giggles from child. She notices that her tail play is drawing in more kids to try their luck at grabbing the ever so elusive tail. It isn't long until five children are trying to grab her two tails and it isn't long before one of them manages to grab one of her tails, which hurts a little but she bears it to hear the laugh of a happy child. She looks over her shoulder just in time to see the first child grab her other tail.

Kaede pretends to put on a frowning face and says in a tone of voice to let the kids know that her face isn't to be taken seriously, "Can I help you children?" and smiles as the kids laugh and some of them run away after having been 'caught' at playing with her tails. The little girl and the older boy who had successfully grabbed her tails still held on and looked up at her with smiles. The girl who had started the game said, "Are you here with the two other foxes and their friends?"

Kaede looked at the two and turned just enough to look at them both more easily, keeping in mind that they both still had the tips of her tails. "What other foxes?" Kneeling she looked at them both in the eyes while the girl said, "Not too long ago, the Elder greeted two foxes and their friends in front of this house while they were paying their respects to it."

Midoro's attention was caught at this point and she kneeled and swished her tail behind her as she asked, "Did you say that there were two foxes here? Do you know where they are?"

The little girl shook her head before saying "I couldn't hear too well, but I think the Elder took them away to someplace." The older boy said, "I was there in the front, and I heard everything!" with some pride at being one with useful information.

Kaede thought to herself, "I wonder if that was Aneko, but then who was the other?" Kaede looked at the boy, "Were you now? You're such a big boy, what did you hear them say?"

The little boy said, "Well the Elder called the little fox, Little Fire and the big one Aneko. The rest I didn't catch their names." The last part he looked a little upset that he didn't get to catch their names.

Kaede smiles as she thought to herself, "So, it was Aneko! And where have I heard Little Fire… I think Aneko's mentioned it to me once before." She looks at the boy and pats him on the head, "Thank you both, what are your names?"

The little girl said, "I'm Akira Okochi, nice to meet you" and she lets go of Kaede's tail. The older little boy lets go of her tail, following Akira's example and says, "I'm Ken Naba and I live just over there…" pointing over at a place just three houses away. Akira doesn't want to be topped by the boy so she says, "I live at that house over there." And points over to a house on the opposite side of the street about seven houses away.

Midoro recognizes the name Aneko and thinks to herself, "It couldn't be… could it? What if…" Steeling a resolve, she stands up and looks to Soten, "I think it is about time we go visit the Village Elder, he may have some answers for us."

Kaede looks at the three for a moment before thinking, "Aneko is probably with the Elder, so I better tag along so I can find her." Kaede pats the two kids on the heads and says, "Thank you both, you've helped us to find our friends. I've got to go now but I promise that I'll try to come by before I leave here." Akira nods and says, "I hope you find your friends. I'll be waiting for you!" and then she runs off towards her home. Ken says, "Good luck with your friends, and safe travels to you!" before he also runs off and catching up to the girl before he has to break off and run into his home.

Midoro, and her group start walking towards the Elder's home, and then Midoro says to Kaede "You don't have to come with us, I'm just going to visit the Elder to check on something." Kaede smiles softly and says, "That's ok, I am going there to check on the two foxes. I think one of them is my missing friend."

(At Elder's Home)

Sayo had just returned from the kitchen where she had washed all the dishes and was about to check on everyone in the dinner room when she heard someone at the front gate.

Sayo walked up to the entrance and opened it to see Midoro and her group standing there. Sayo looked at the group and said, "Hello, how can I be of help?" before she noticed that two of them had foxtails as well when they both lightly swished their tails behind them. Sayo thought to herself, "It sure seems like the day for foxes, I wonder if there is a reason."

Midoro looks at her, and tries to be as friendly as she can as she says to her, "Hello, we were told that perhaps our fox friends are here."

Sayo looked at the group in front of her and then pushes the door more open for them before saying, "Yes, they are. Do please come in, and I'll show you to where they are." Sayo notices that there was a child traveling with them and as she leads them she says to the child, "You know, you I think one of the foxes are about your age. Maybe the two of you can play together until it is time for bed, if his sister will allow him."

Sayo didn't notice that one of the foxes had stopped walking for a few moments before she started to walk again, more quickly this time and when she noticed the quick pace she tried to keep up since she was supposed to be the one guiding them.

Every molecule in Midoro's body froze when she heard the word 'sister' from Sayo. From all accounts, she knew that Shippou had survived but suddenly the news that his older sister might have as well? Suddenly, she found herself walking a faster pace, one that almost matched her heart's beating within her chest. She wanted to see for herself if the news was true, that not one, but both her children were alive! She didn't need to be guided since she'd been visiting the place long before Sayo was probably even born and somewhere in the fringes of her mind, she knew what Sayo was trying to do but the motherly drive within her had just kicked into overdrive and nothing was going to stop her from seeing her children with her own two eyes!

Kaede didn't realize right away that the little boy that was mentioned could possibly be Aneko's little brother because as far as she had known, he was supposed to be dead. When she saw the older fox woman quickening her pace, it all dawned on her. Kaede thought to herself, "Now I know where I've seen her! She… gasps Aneko's mother! Then that means that the little boy is… widens her eyes Shippou!" Kaede realizes what Midoro must be thinking and her pace quickens as well while Soten and her dragon friend wonder why everyone is walking so fast!

At the quick pace everyone went at, it wasn't long before Midoro reached the door where everyone could still be heard and when she pulled the door to the side a little too hard and noisily it startled almost everyone there with the force of it.

Midoro just stood there, seeing both her children for the first time in so long and while Shippou was too young to remember her, Aneko didn't have that problem. Midoro's heart skipped a beat and her breath caught in her chest as the two stared at each other with a confused Shippou wondering why his sister and the strange woman were getting all teary-eyed.

Sayo was the one to break the silence by saying, "We have some guests here to see you Aneko." It was then that Kaede stepped out from behind Midoro and said "Hi Aneko!" and waved her hand in a kind of apologetic way.

Aneko leapt to her feet and said, "Kaede! I was worried about you! I am glad to see you're ok, but how did you ever run into Mother?"

Shippou's brain went into shock along with everyone else at the table as they said, "MOTHER?" very loudly.

Kagome became all tears as she said to Shippou, "Isn't it wonderful Shippou? You've got your family back together!" Kagome got up and clasped her hands together to say; "It is moments like this that make it all the worth while!"

Inuyasha of course was confused in a kind of dense way, and wondered to him self, "What moments? What is Kagome talking about?"

Miroku smiled and said, "This is a most joyous occasion for our little traveling companion today. First he discovers that his sister is still alive, and now his Mother." With Sango saying in agreement, "You're right Miroku. I'm happy for Shippou." And then she looks at Shippou with happiness and a little bit of sadness and jealousy since she had lost everyone due to Naraku.

Midoro walked quickly once her brain unfroze at the sight of seeing her children and she scooped up Shippou into one arm and wrapped her other around Aneko to hug them both so tightly that they both felt like they were going to get crushed in her arms, but even still they both hugged back as they enjoyed the loving hug of their mother.

Soten stood quietly where she was at the door, just watching the three of them be reunited and felt her heart a little jealous because she would never see anyone in her clan again for she was the last of her kind that she knew of. Still, she wouldn't wish for Shippou to be parted after such a reunion for all the magic color sticks in the world.

It was only when Midoro turned her head to say, "Soten! They're really alive! My family! My family…" with her trailing off at the end and just hugged them both again with tears still streaming down her face. It was at this point that Shippou noticed that Soten was there and he said, "Soten? Is that you? What are you doing here?"

Soten looks at Shippou and says, "Um… Heh… Your mother came to my valley and we kind of then went looking for you." Soten thought to herself, "Probably better not to mention that she came to destroy me because of what my brothers did to his father and him."

Shippou smiles at Soten really big and says to her, "I don't know how I'll ever be able to thank you for bringing my mother to me!" And then Soten blushes red as she scratches the back of her head saying, "Don't mention it…" to Shippou while Koryu mumbles softly, "Yeah… don't mention it." which gets a swift hit from Soten since she heard him.

Soten and Koryu join in with everyone as Soya smiles at the lively scene of everyone talking to each other. Soya slowly closes the door and walks off to the kitchen to prepare drinks for everyone and when she returns, she finds that there are so many different conversations going on at once that most of them were overlapping and confusing but all in all, everyone had a good time talking until the moon was past the center of the sky.

* * *

AN: Hey everyone, sorry this took so long but I think you'll agree that it was worth it! Just think of this as the calm before the storm though. You'll see what I mean in later chapters. Please review and tell me what you think, as I love to hear what you think:)  



	22. Snow Times

**Chapter 21: Snow times**

**Story by: Eric Lentz**

It was late in the morning when everyone started to get up because they'd all stayed up too late with the exception of the Inuyasha who was up after the sun had been up for only an hour. When Inuyasha got up he saw that there were light gray clouds in the sky gathering until the sun was no longer visible and with the temperature pretty cold he thought to himself, "Looks like it might snow."

As Inuyasha walked around, his keen nose could detect the scent of food cooking in the air and the thought of food made his stomach rumble so he walked until he reached the kitchen where Soya and Aoi were busily cooking a lot of food and Inuyasha stood there drooling for about a minute before Inuyasha walked into the kitchen and swiped an apple.

It was when Inuyasha bit into the apple and made the "crunch" that Soya and Aoi noticed him with Aoi the first to say, "Hey! That was for breakfast!"

Inuyasha said, "Sorry, but everything you two are cooking smells so good that I couldn't help myself."

Soya smiled at Inuyasha and said, "Ok then, but NO more until we're done alright?" Inuyasha looked at the two and then turned and walked out the kitchen while saying between bites, "All right, I'll go wake up everyone and get them to breakfast then."

Aoi says, "Wait Inuyasha, the meal won't be ready for another hour. Why don't you find something to do until then?"

Inuyasha nods his head and says, "Ok, I'll find something to do until you two are ready." And walks down the hallway while finishing off the apple.

Inuyasha stops by the front and looks at the sky while the frost from his breath flows upward until it disappears and the first of many snowflakes to come float on downward lightly, dancing all the way down until it lands right on his nose.

Inuyasha thinks back to a time when such a thing happened, and remembers his mother.

(Flashback begins)  
_Inuyasha was a small child who saw the snow for the first time in his life and started to giggle and laugh as he tried to catch them in his small, young hands only to find that they disappeared like magic every time he caught one. Inuyasha's mother walks up to him with some clothes and says, "Here, put this on or you'll catch a cold Inuyasha." And he looks up at her and says, "What is this Mommy? It disappears when I catch it! Is it magic?"_

Inuyasha smiles a little as he remembers her face with the snow slowly collecting on his face and robes.

_Inuyasha looks up at his mother, seeing her very loving and happy face at such a question. He looks up at her brown eyes and puts her words to memory as she says, "No Inuyasha, it is called snow. It is frozen rain from the sky and in it's most beautiful way it touches all, and covers everything in the serenity and innocence for another day." Inuyasha looks away from his mother and sees that some of it is sticking to the ground, and he says, "Look! It is not disappearing!" Inuyasha hears her reply, "Yes, it does that and as with all things that wait patiently, good things come." _

_Inuyasha feels her arms wrap around him and he looks up at her, "What good things Mommy?" and he sees her just gazing at the silently falling snow with the most peaceful and happy look upon her face. She says softly, "Just you wait, I promise you'll see. But you must be patient." Inuyasha looks back at the yard and watches as the yard slowly starts to become more and more white. _

Inuyasha smiles again as he fails to hear Kagome walking up behind him, so immersed in his thoughts and memories. He remembers how he got to play with his mother and even the young Sesshomaru that played in the snow with them although he seemed to mostly enjoy throwing snowballs at Inuyasha until he went crying to his mother for protection.  
(End of Flashback)

Kagome stands there looking at Inuyasha with a most peaceful and happy expression upon his face as he seems to be remembering and she commits the memory of his look at that moment so that she never has to forget that even Inuyasha has a peaceful look. She slowly wraps the blanket over his shoulders and for a moment, Inuyasha thought of the memory again where his mother was putting something onto his shoulders before he realized that wasn't possible and he opens his eyes to see Kagome with a happy expression on her face.

Inuyasha softly says, "Kagome…?" but doesn't get a chance to finish his sentence as she leans up and kisses his snow-covered nose. The kiss shocks Inuyasha and he is left speechless before Kagome as she has a strange look in her eyes that he doesn't understand and the moment of silence stretches out for a big with the snow falling onto Kagome as well with the white and peaceful silence all around, with just the two of them in the whole world it seemed.

What neither knew though was that their friends had come to see what was taking Kagome and Inuyasha so long and saw them staring at each other so they stayed quiet and just watched as the snow grew thicker and thicker making it hard to see them from where they stood.

It was Kagome who smiled and giggled, "Let's go in before we become a couple of snowmen. I'm sure the others are wondering what happened to us." Inuyasha nods and says with not as much strength behind his words as usual, "Yeah, but snow doesn't bother me like it does a human." Kagome walks beside Inuyasha in the snow back to under the roof where upon then she lays her head upon his shoulder and Inuyasha with his arms in his robe sleeves looks at her for a moment before blushing and looks away as if trying not to notice. Kagome softly says as she places a hand upon his shoulder, "Thank you Inuyasha…" Inuyasha looks perplexed and says, "What are you thanking me for? I didn't do nothing!" Kagome simply says in a soft voice, "For showing me your gentle side."

Inuyasha isn't quite sure how to take that and keeps blushing as they walk down the corridor. Their friends meet the two of them with smiles on their faces and they don't say a word, they just look at them until Inuyasha stops before them with Kagome still leaning against him. Inuyasha gives them a look that says, "Don't say a word!" and the two of them walk into the dining area with the others following.

Kagome and Inuyasha look to see that Midoro, Aneko, Soten, Koryu, Kaede, and the Village Elder already there to start eating. With everyone all together at the table, they sit down and start to eat their food with casual discussions going on.

Kagome looks out at the snow when Aoi opens the door to the outside and steps out, seeing that there is so much heavy, big snowflakes falling now and it makes her remember a time when she was young.

(Begin Kagome's Flashback)  
_Kagome's Mother is walking in with her Father and she says, "Kagome! Come look! It is snowing!" Her Father says, "Come on out Little Pep" to her and smiles at her as he holds out an outstretched hand for her._

Kagome smiles a little as she remembers that this was before Sota was born and how her Father would call her that, and though she denied it, she loved it when her father would call her that.

_Kagome took her Father's hand and then her Mother's hand in the other as they lead her outside to where a magical scene was happening as far as she was concerned. "Mommy? Daddy? What's going on?" she asked as she watched the snow that was already on the ground and covering even the sacred tree in it's white pristine beauty. _

_Kagome's Mother says as she looks down at Kagome, "It is snowing dear, isn't it beautiful?" Kagome nods and says, "Yes it is Mommy." While she watches in awe at the scene that is so silent and beautiful before her. Her Father gives her hand a soft squeeze to get her attention before he says to her, "This is a gift from nature, to remind us that she has a time when all is quiet and beautiful." Kagome continues to look up at her Father and say, "Daddy? What is snow?" _

_Kagome's Father smiles down at her before he kneels and says, "Snow is rain when it has been frozen way up there in the sky (points at the sky with a hand) and allowed to come down in its beauty." Kagome's Mother also kneels down and smiles at Kagome as she turns her head to her mother, "Did you know that no two snowflakes are alike?" _

_Kagome looks at her mother and says, "There's so much snow! How can be?" Kagome's mother giggles and says, "Because that is just the way it is. Just like there can be millions of people in the world, but only one Kagome." And she then pokes Kagome in the tummy lightly with a smile on her face. _

_Kagome's Father says, "Stick out your tongue Kagome." Kagome says, "Like this?" and sticks it out as far as she can. Her Father nods "Yes, and now just wait…" with all the heavy snowing Kagome soon gets a snowflake on her tongue and she squeals, "I caught one! Look Mommy! Look Daddy!" and they both chuckle before her Mother says, "Yes, I see it, I'm proud of you dear." Her Father gives her a hug and says, "I'm proud of you too my Little Pep."_  
(End of Flashback)

Inuyasha says, "Hey Kagome! Are you all right? You look kind of spaced out there." And then he eats a rice ball quickly as she answers with a smile, "Yes, I am… I was just remembering a time when it snowed like this when I was young."

Shippou looked at Kagome and says, "Really? Does it snow like it does now in your time?" before he picks up a rice ball and starts to eat it before Inuyasha can scarf them all down.

Midoro looks at Shippou with a puzzled expression as Kagome says, "Yes, we get snow just like this, and I was just remembering a time before my brother when my Father was still with us."

Kagome looks lost in her memories as she continues to say, "We had such fun together, all three of us playing in the snow, making snowmen and laughing together. I remember when my Mother made snow angels and my Father just laughed and said now he's got two angels."

Kagome smiles and giggles while Midoro looks at Kagome and knows the scene, for she'd once done something similar with her own family but also thought that there was something strange about Kagome, more than her choice of clothes.

Everyone seems to be listening and eating a little slower as they hear Kagome speak of her memories and when Kagome finishes there is a sense of peace and everything was silent as the snow outside.

Midoro breaks the silence by looking down at Shippou and saying, "Shippou, what did you mean "Your time" to Kagome?" With Shippou looking up at his Mother and saying, "Oh, Kagome's from the future! She comes back and forth to our time through a well near another village!" Midoro looks at Kagome and is about to ask if that is true when Kagome smiles and nods as she says, "Yep! And I am always bringing food and little things for Shippou to play with. He's like another little brother to me, sort of like mine but not so annoying." And she giggles as she says the last bit.

Soten looks at Kagome and says, "You're the ones who gave Shippou the magic color sticks? The things he called Crayons?" Kagome smiles and nods, "Yep! I thought he'd have a lot of fun with them."

Midoro looked at Kagome and chewed on her lower lip just a little as she felt more guilty now for hurting Kagome, because not had she taken care of her son, but she had also given him toys and treated him like he was family.

Midoro just didn't know how to approach her to tell her how sorry she was and as it was she wanted to tell her in private but Kagome was almost never alone. While she was lost in her thoughts, everyone started to talk again while the snow continued to fall outside and the conversation didn't even pause when Aoi arrived with more stuff for the table.

Soten looks at Kagome and says, "Kagome, I hope you don't mind me asking but do you think that I could get some more crayons? I'm getting kind of low on some of the colors."

Kagome smiles and says, "No, I don't mind at all! You're welcome to have some more any time you run out, all you need to do is just ask me." And with the warmth that directed at Soten, she blushed a little and says in return, "Thank you Kagome, I appreciate that. I didn't know if you would after… you know."

Kagome's smile never wavered and says to the young female thunder demon, "Oh, don't worry about that! It's all in the past!" and then she stands up and says, "I think I have some more crayons in my pack. Let me go get them for you!"

Soten says, "You don't have to go get them right now Kagome!"

Kagome looks down at Soten and says, "Oh, it's no trouble at all" with a smile before she opens and closes the door as she runs out.

Midoro looks at Kagome leaving by herself and thinks, "Now is as good of a time as any since she's alone." Midoro stands up and says, "I have something to do, I'll be right back everyone." With an "Ok" from a few of the people, she quietly leaves and walks down the wooden path to where Kagome went with her mind in turmoil at how best to tell her without a bad reaction but she knew that no matter how she could say it, Kagome would be bound to be upset.

Midoro reaches the door to where Kagome was staying and her hand pauses as she can hear the sound of a lot of stuff being moved around and she thinks to herself, "How can I tell her now? When everyone is so happy? I finally have my son and daughter back, but… I feel so guilty that I barely look him in the eyes. No, I must tell her and let the things happen as they must if I am to be able to look into his eyes without guilt again… or at least not the guilt of being away for so long. I shouldn't have left, but I had no choice." Shaking her head, she steels her resolve and opens the door.

* * *

AN: Heh, I know this was a good cliffhanger to leave at. Well, you'll just have to wait until NEXT chapter to find out what happens! Does she tell Kagome? Does she falter? Only I know:) Oh, and I hope that you all liked the snow memories! Please read and review soon!  



	23. All I want for Christmas is

Chapter 22: All I want for Christmas… Story by: Eric Lentz aka Aero Tendo 

(Feudal Era)

(Shippou's Village)

Midoro looks down at Kagome who is digging through a very large white backpack and seems to be half buried in it and she closes the door behind her just as Kagome pops her head out with two crayon sets in her hands. "Ah! I knew I had an extra one!" and laughs happily and loudly before she notices Midoro standing there with a somber expression upon her face.

Kagome seems not to notice her expression and says, "Oh hey Midoro! I'm glad you're here! Want to give Shippou this crayon set while I give the other to Soten?"

Midoro's resolve weakened as did her feelings and she starts by saying, "Kagome…"

Kagome however interrupts by hoping up to her feet and running up to push the crayon set into her hands, "Come on! It is a great idea! I just know he'll love a present from you and it'll be a chance for the two of you to really bond after all these years!"

Kagome smiles big and looks into Midoro's eyes with the bright-eyed and eagerness of an innocent child as she continues to say, "I'm so happy that Shippou has his family, I know what it is like to lose a Father. I lost mine long ago not long after my brother was born. Sometimes I wonder if he even remembers him, but it is ok because he's got Grandfather as a male role model."

Kagome pauses in thought and then smiles, "Ah well, I'm sure he'll still turn out ok despite that." She giggles a little after that and then gives Midoro a surprising hug all of a sudden, "If you're worried about the past, don't worry about it! I bet now that Aneko and Shippou have you back in their lives, they'll be happy to get to know you and just be one big happy family! After all, that's what is important right? To know that you have people you care about and can count on no matter what!"

Kagome releases Midoro from the hug with her big smile still on her face, "Even now that he's got his family back, I'll always consider Shippou and my other friends just like family, because after all we've been through with our fights against Naraku and all the other demons we've fought. We have become one big, close family."

Midoro looks down and closes her eyes, as she shudders so slightly that she appears to be shivering and tears run down her face until they reach the floor. Only a few drops at first, but then it becomes more steady with her hands tightly clutching onto the crayons as if it was all that held her to this world.

Midoro thought to herself, "Damn it… Curse me for my weakness… I can't do it. I just can't tell her. I can't hurt her like that."

Kagome sees the tears and gets the wrong idea and gives her another hug, "It is ok, everything will be alright, just you watch. You'll become a strong and happy family again just like you want." And then steps back but puts her hands on her shoulders before saying, "Now let's go back and give the little ones something to smile about."

Midoro simply nods and opens her eyes to look at Kagome as she tries her hardest to fight back the tears. She fails for a few minutes before she finally gets herself under control and wipes her tears upon her sleeve, nearly exposing the snake that she was hiding underneath for a moment.

Midoro looks at Kagome and says, "Thank you Kagome… You've been just so sweet and kind. I don't know how I can ever repay you for everything you've done for Shippou and for me."

Kagome smiles and says, "Don't worry about it! We're like one big family now aren't we?" Kagome opens the door with the crayons in one hand and they both step out to the see that it is still snowing heavily with the yard now a serene blanket of white, even the trees are almost completely white.

Midoro fights back tears with her voice very soft as she says, "Yes, we're just like family now…" and then looks at the snow, anywhere would have done, as she couldn't look at Kagome. The snake curls up to her ear and whispers, "What are you going to do?" Midoro whispers back softly, "I don't know yet, but whatever I have to do to help Kagome. I will do, as my way of saying sorry to her even if she never finds out why."

The snake slithers back into her clothes and seems to fade down against her until all that is left is a snake tattoo.

Kagome reaches the door first in her happy attitude way and Midoro forces a happy smile upon her face, with a little happiness in her heart as she thinks of the smile her son will give her when she gives him the crayons.

They both step into the room, with Kagome going first and walking around to Soten and Midoro walking up to Shippou. Kagome smiles at Soten and says with almost glee in her voice, "Here you are Soten! More crayons for you!" and places them into her hands. Soten smiles up at Kagome and says, "Thank you Kagome!" and looks at them with misty eyes.

Midoro looks down at Shippou and she then kneels before him so her eyes are level with his as she reaches out and hands him the crayons as she says, "Here Shippou, these are for you." Her heart swells happily as she sees Shippou smile and take them before wrapping his small arms around her and she cries just a little when he says, "Thank you Mother!" and she whispers back to him, "You're welcome Shippou." She wraps her arms around him and just holds him for a little while until Shippou starts to feel embarrassed and he pulls away to show his crayons off to Aneko who'd never seen anything like it before.

Midoro looks at her two children with a soft smile and a warm glow in her heart as a small part of her had thought that she would never once again be able to see them, to hear their laughter and to see their smiles. It wasn't until she had seen them together again that she realized just how much she had missed them while she was away. True, she and her children weren't exactly like mortals but they do grow up and she had to admit that both her children had grown up so very much since she'd last seen them.

Kagome looks at everyone and the warmth in the room before she turns to Inuyasha and says, "Hey Inuyasha, do you remember that song I had you listen to back in the present?"

Inuyasha looks at her with a puzzled expression on his face, "Which song Kagome?" Kagome smiles as she says, "The Christmas one by Mariah Carey." Inuyasha nods, "Yeah… what about it?" Kagome smiles as she scoots closer to him, "Do you remember the words?" Inuyasha who was a little uncomfortable with how close she was and where she might be going nods as he says, "Yes, I do…"

Kagome smiles as she hops up and drags him up to his feet with a hand, surprising Inuyasha with her strength, "Hey everyone, I would like to treat you all to a song from my time…(Kagome pulls him close to her with a big smile) and Inuyasha is going to help sing along!"

Inuyasha looks a bit red faced as he growls and says, "No way! I am not singing anything!"

Kagome says, "Oh come on Inuyasha! It'll be fun! I bet you have a good singing voice!" and then she moves the two of them to the end of the table by the door.

Miroku says, "Oh come on Inuyasha! Be a good sport and sing for us, after all this is a time of celebration with us finding Shippou's family."

Sango smiles as she joins in by saying, "Yeah Inuyasha, you wouldn't want to offend everyone here by refusing to sing would you? Think about Shippou and his family!"

Even Shippou joins in by saying, "Yeah Inuyasha! Please sing! I want to hear Kagome's song!" And Midoro looks at Inuyasha and smiles at him, "Please sing, I do so wish to hear a song!"

Kaede and Aneko grin as they look over at each other and say almost in stereo, "Hey, can we sing along?" And Kagome nods, "Yes, in fact you're all welcome to sing along once you know the words, with everyone cheering at that fact.

With everyone in the room is cheering on the two of them to sing, this makes it all the harder for Inuyasha to resist until he finally growls, "FINE! I'll sing!" which makes everyone yell in happiness and then they all settle down as Kagome turns to Inuyasha and says, "Are you ready? It is the one called "All I want for Christmas is you"

Midoro looks puzzled until Shippou says loudly enough for Aneko, Kaede and Midoro to hear as he tells the Village Elder, "Christmas is a neat holiday in Kagome's time where everyone gets presents."

Looking satisfied that everyone knows what Christmas is now, Kagome smiles up at Inuyasha's eyes and everyone gets quiet again as they watch.

Kagome starts to sing…

I don't want a lot for Christmas  
There is just one thing I need  
I don't care about the presents  
Underneath the Christmas tree  
I just want you for my own  
More than you could ever know  
Make my wish come true...  
All I want for Christmas is   
You... yeah yeah

Inuyasha starts to sing along a little uneasily at first since he was very nervous with Kagome so close and staring at him, but he gets into it which gets a few people starting to very quietly sing along with them.

I don't want a lot for Christmas  
There is just one thing I need  
(and I) Don't care about presents  
Underneath the Christmas tree  
I don't need to hang my stocking  
There upon the fireplace  
Santa Claus won't make me happy  
With a toy on Christmas day  
I just want you for my own  
More than you could ever know  
Make my wish come true  
All I want for Christmas is you...  
You baby

Inuyasha and Kagome sing together in perfect harmony at this point.

Oh I won't ask for much this Christmas  
I won't even wish for snow  
(and I) I'm just gonna keep on waiting  
Underneath the mistletoe  
I won't make a list and send it  
To the North Pole for Saint Nick  
I won't even stay awake to  
Hear those magic reindeer click  
'Cause I just want you here tonight  
Holding on to me so tight  
What more can I do  
Baby all I want for Christmas is you  
You baby

Aneko and Kaede start to join in the singing with Inuyasha and Kagome before Midoro and Shippou then join in.

All the lights are shining  
So brightly everywhere (so brightly yeah)  
And the sound of children's  
Laughter fills the air  
And everyone is singing (oh yeah)  
I hear those sleigh bells ringing  
Santa won't you bring me the one I really need -  
won't you please bring my baby to me…

By now Sango and Miroku are joining in along with the Village Elder who had a pretty good singing voice (go figure!) to everyone's surprise.

Oh I don't want a lot for Christmas  
This is all I'm asking for  
I just want to see my baby  
Standing right outside my door  
Oh I just want you for my own  
More than you could ever know  
Make my wish come true  
Baby all I want for Christmas is  
You (You) baby

All I want for Christmas is you baby...

So by now everyone is singing along when Aoi and Soya come in to see them singing and by time they all reach "_Santa Claus won't make me happy with a toy on Christmas day_" in the song, everyone is singing together while the snowflakes outside seem to dance a little brighter to the sound of their happy singing.

When they all finish singing, they all sit down and laugh since they all very thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

Midoro smiles at Kagome and says, "That is a very good song Kagome, where did you hear it?"

Kagome smiles and says, "Oh, we have a singer in my time named Mariah Carey who has made lots of songs like that. She is quite popular and has won a couple of awards I think for her songs."

Midoro nods, "I don't doubt it." She looks at her two children and says, "If today was this Christmas in the song… I already have what I would have asked for. My two children here with me safe and sound."

Kagome giggles, "Well Christmas isn't really for another week, but I'm glad that you got your present early." And then she smiles and reaches over to pat Midoro's hand as she says, "Christmas is a family affair, and I'm happy that you have yours to share it with."

Inuyasha grumbles, "As much as I hate to admit it Kagome, I had fun too. Thanks" which causes her to squeal in delight and wrap her arms around him and press her face against his before giving him a big, quick smooch on the lips!

Kagome says, "Thank you Inuyasha! I'm happy to hear that!" with Inuyasha blushing very red and looking away as he mumbles, "Not a problem…"

Everyone laughs together as they watch Inuyasha's reaction with the feelings of joy shared by them all.

Kagome says, "Hey everyone! I have an idea! How about we all go play in the snow?"

Shippou hops to his feet and says, "That's a great idea!" before Soten grins and says, "I'll race you" With Shippou then saying, "You're on!" and they laugh as they rush out the door and into the snow that is falling lighter now.

Aneko gets up and says, "Well I'm not going to let Shippou have all the fun, are you coming Kaede?" Kaede stands up and says, "You bet!"

Inuyasha looks at them and says, "At least you don't look like the Kaede in our village…" before Kagome says, "Sit Boy!" and his necklace glows before he plunges face first into the floor!

Inuyasha groans as Aneko and Kaede run out into the snow and start to make snowballs to throw at each other and the two younger ones. Inuyasha looks up and says, "What'd you do that for?" before he sees Kagome giggle and says, "Come on Inuyasha! You don't want to be the last one out do you?" and then leans over and kisses him on his ear before she hops over him and out into the snow.

Inuyasha's ear twitches from the kiss before he gets up and sees Midoro walk out into the snow and start to join in on the fun. Inuyasha runs out into the snow and right into a snowball thrown by Shippou who laughs and says, "Got you Inuyasha!"

Inuyasha growls and Shippou goes "Uh-Oh!" and starts to run as Inuyasha makes a bowling ball-sized snowball and chases Shippou around with it before Kagome does a soft "Sit Boy" and it falls on his head after he is sent into the soft, white snow so it didn't really hurt Inuyasha as much as it usually did.

Everyone stays out in the snow for a few hours, hitting each other with snowballs, making snowmen and snow-women (Kagome's idea, which was joined in by the others) and even a snow fort was made until Aoi and Soya called in everyone for lunch while the Village Elder had enjoyed watching and even he threw a few snowballs in fun at a few people.

* * *

AN: Wow! Two chapters in 1 day! Will miracles never cease! LOL:) Well anyway I hope that everyone enjoys this one. I would like to thank Sam for the song idea. Enjoy this time of happiness, because I can tell you it won't last! Anyway, please read and review!  



	24. Cold Days

** Chapter 23: Cold Days**  
_**Story by: Eric Lentz aka Aero Tendo**_

**(Kagome's Time)  
(Kagome's Home)**

Kagome's Mother was in the kitchen making some cookies when she heard Sota come home from school. She smiled to herself and after pulling a fresh batch from the oven she turned to see Sota walking into the kitchen with his eyes zeroing in on the cookies. She knew what he wanted and says to him, "Sota, you can 1 cookie but that's all until supper."

Sota looked at her and said, "Why are you making so many cookies Mom?" before he the grabs a cookie that was still very warm and slightly burned at his fingers. He blows on it for a few moments to cool it before taking a bite.

Kagome's Mother says to him, "I'm making cookies for Kagome and her friends. You remember when they all came through the well?"

Sota nods and says while eating another bite, "Yeah, I remember. Hey Mom, do you think they'll all come back with Kagome for Christmas?"

Kagome's Mother gives a soft smile and says, "I don't know, but even if they don't I plan on Kagome returning with gifts for every one of them."

Grandpa was sitting at the kitten table and picking up a cookie that was smacked out of his hand by Kagome's Mother. He looked up her and said, "That's a very good idea considering everything that Kagome's friends have done for her." He looks at the cookie that he dropped and then back at her before saying, "Can I have a cookie too? I'll help wrap the presents."

Kagome's Mother smiles at him and says, "All right then, you can have one but remember your promise when I'm done with my shopping."

Grandpa nods and says, "Oh certainly! I never break a promise." And then picks up the cookie to eat it. Kagome's mother smiles as she accepts the promise and turns back to the finish up the rest of the stuff that she is cooking.

Sota walks off while Grandpa finishes his cookie and thinks to himself, "I wonder if Kagome will be back to her normal self when she returns?"

Sota heads outside to go visit the well and sees all the snow that has fallen already. He thinks aloud, "I wonder if Kagome is getting snow like this wherever she is?" with puffs floating in front of his face before he then adds quietly in thought, "I miss sis, I hope she is alright."

**(Feudal Era)  
(In a room inside the Elder's Home)**

Kagome sneezes and then she brings her finger up to rub her red nose. She is sitting in a room with her normal traveling companions around her. She looks around and sees that Miroku, Sango, Shippou, and Kirara are at the table where there is some hot tea and hot food. Inuyasha is sitting with his back against the wall while watching her.

Inuyasha says, "Sounds like you're catching a cold Kagome. I told you that you were staying out there too long." Looking at her with his arms crossed in his kimono while his eyes betray the worry that he has for her.

Miroku says, "Someone could be talking about you behind your back." To Kagome before Miroku picks up the cup of warm tea from in front of him and then takes a sip.

Sango looks at Kagome as she says, "Are you planning on going home for Christmas Kagome?"

Kagome turns to Sango with a big, happy smile and nods to her as she says, "You bet! In fact I'd like all of you to come back with me so you can all see how we celebrate Christmas in my time!"

Everyone takes a look at each other as they seem to quietly think and talk to each other through their eyes for just a few moments before Sango says, "Do you still want to go back even before you are cured Kagome?"

Kagome nods as she says, "Yep! What I have isn't too serious and I think we could use a break from all the searching." She turns to Shippou and says, "My Mom always makes lots of food for Christmas. Wouldn't you like some Christmas cookies?"

Shippou gets energetic and hops to his feet as he says, "Oh boy! Would I! I love cookies!" He looks at Kagome as thoughts of cookies being eaten by him dance in his head.

Kirara meows as if asking a question and Kagome seems to understand. Kagome says, "Of course you can have one too Kirara!" and smiles happily before she looks at Sango and Miroku.

Sango seems hesitant for a few moments before she says, "I guess it wouldn't hurt to see this Christmas thing. All right Kagome, you can count me in." And smiles at her friend Kagome as she says the last part.

Miroku nods before saying, "I think this will be a wonderful chance to take a break before we return in our search for Kagome's cure. From what we heard the trials will be more difficult."

Kagome smiles and looks like she is about to leap in a hug at him as she says, "Thank you Miroku!" but a look from Sango keeps Kagome in her spot.

Inuyasha grumbles, "You can all go back if you like, but I'm staying here." And seems to have every intention of following through on what he said. That is until he saw Kagome bring out the waterworks.

Kagome's eyes were very heavy with water, just a tear or two short of becoming gushing streams down her face as she looked at him and sniffed. This caused Inuyasha to go on the defensive and say, "N-now Kagome, there's no need to cry…"

Kagome approached him and says to him through her tears that now flow down her cheeks like rivers, "But you don't want to come home with me!"

Inuyasha saw the faces of his friends that were quite upset at him and he wanted to avoid a "Sit!" from Kagome as well which sometimes happened whenever she got upset or sad. He looked at her and said, "C-calm down Kagome… there's no need to go overboard."

Kagome moved up real close to Inuyasha with the tears still streaming down her face with Miroku, Sango, Shippou and even Kirara moving in close behind her giving him the 'look' that he knew wasn't good.

Sango is looking at Inuyasha and says, "Come on Inuyasha, you don't really want to make Kagome cry do you?" with Miroku saying after that, "I agree with Sango, you really should come." Shippou stood by Inuyasha's knee and pointed at him as he said, "You're making Kagome cry! Don't you have any heart?" with Kirara meowing that sounded like "Yeah!" to Inuyasha.

Inuyasha turns his head away from everyone and grumbles, "Fine! I'll go! Will you turn off the waterworks already?" He doesn't expect the sudden leap from Kagome where she wraps her arms around his neck and cries, "Thank you Inuyasha!" before rubbing her cheek against his. He doesn't know where to put his hands and says, "You're welcome, now get off of me!" but his words seem to have no effect other than Kagome hugging him tighter and his friends laughing a little before Miroku says, "There Inuyasha, that wasn't so hard was it?"

Inuyasha just grumbles without really saying anything and tries to push Kagome off but she just hugs tighter for a few minutes more until she finally releases him and says, "Thank you Inuyasha!" with a lot of enthusiasm. Kagome looks like she is about to hug him tightly again but is restrained by a hand from Sango on her shoulder.

**(By the water near the village)**

Koga is leaning over and getting a sip of water from his hands while his men and wolves do the same. Sitting up he wipes his face with his wrist and says, "Ah, that feels good. There's nothing like a drink of cold water."

Hakkaku and Ginta were still drinking up the water along with all the other wolves since chasing after Koga was very hard and thirsty work. However every now and then Ginta would glance at the direction of the village until he became distracted enough to pause in his drinking.

Hakkaku noticed since he was next to him and says to Ginta, "Are you alright?" which startles him and he answers nervously, "Yeah! W-why wouldn't I be alright?"

Ginta then proceeds to drink a bit in a hurry as if his pause made him lose valuable time and water.

Hakkaku wasn't fooled though and said, "Are you still thinking about that fox-girl that we ran into?" Ginta was shocked at the question and starts to choke on some water that he'd been drinking in a hurry.

Koga notices the noise and says, "What's all that racket over there? What are you two doing?" as he approaches the two of them while all the wolves are still lapping away at the cold water.

Hakkaku says, "I was just wondering…" before his mouth is covered by Ginta's hand and he says, "He was just wondering where were going to go from here Koga."

Hakkaku looks at him with the thoughts, "That wasn't what I was going to say! What's he doing?" before it dawned on him that his friend didn't want to tell Koga about the fox-girl for some reason and decided to go along with it for now.

Pushing himself free with an arm, Hakkaku says, "Yeah Koga, where are we going to go? Are we going to visit Kagome?"

Koga looks at the direction of the village and his nose could detect the scent of Kagome and Aneko coming from the same place. He didn't think he could face Kagome yet after what happened the last time he saw her. He wanted to catch Kagome without Aneko around to be able to explain himself better without her there.

Koga looks back at his men and says, "No, not yet. They're still in the village and I doubt that Kagome would appreciate us stirring things up in the village with our arrival." Sitting down he looks at the water and says, "We'll take it easy for a little while and stay in the area for now."

Hakkaku looks between Koga and Ginta who was already glancing back at the village before saying, "Alright Koga, you're the leader!" Hakkaku and the wolves finish drinking up the cold water before they settle down to get some rest and Koga moves over to a nearby tree to lay against it.

Hakkaku leans over to Ginta and whispers, "Hey, why did you cover my mouth like that earlier?" Ginta blushes and says, "I'm sorry about that. I don't know what came over me, I just didn't want you to go telling Koga about the fox-girl."

Hakkaku smiles and jabs his elbow into his friend, "You like her don't you? You ladies man, you" and chuckles while Ginta blushes red and doesn't say anything in response.

Hakkaku whispers, "Why don't you go visit her? I bet she'd be happy to see you too." And then he looks in the direction of the village where Ginta's eyes wander to before Ginta says, "You really think so?"

Hakkaku nods and whispers, "Yeah, if I remember right she liked you right away while we were running."

Ginta looks at his friend and is still blushing but whispers, "Yeah… but how are we going to go there? Koga wouldn't let us go to the village."

Hakkaku thinks for a second before saying, "Leave that to me!" and then he stands up and walks over to Koga, "Hey Koga, Ginta and I are going to go look for some food for the wolves ok?"

Koga who was already half-asleep waves his hand and says, "Whatever, just let me sleep."

Ginta and Hakkaku take off with the wolves all laying by the water with only a few watching them leave before laying back down to rest.

**(At the Village)**

Ginta and Hakkaku walk in and cautiously in case anyone starts to get upset at their presence but to their surprise no one seems to be bothered at all. Kids run by them in a game of tag until one of them tries to hide behind Hakkaku's tail for a few moments.

Hakkaku looks at the kid as he lifts his tail that was being held by the little girl and says, "Hey! Leave my tail alone!" While Ginta watches and laughs a little before saying, "She's just a kid, she can't hurt you Hakkaku!"

The little girl gets tagged anyway by a bigger boy she squeals and runs off to get her friends while the boy looks up at the two of them and says, "Hey, are you two friends of the foxes and the others that came here?"

Ginta looks at Hakkaku for a moment before saying, "Yeah, do you know where they are?"

The boy looks at them for a few moments as if thinking before saying, "Yes, I know where they are." Pointing towards a large house with tall walls he says, "They're in the Elder's home right now."

Ginta says, "Thank you little boy." To which the boy says, "I'm not a boy! I'm a man! And my name is Ken Naba!" Ginta says, "Sorry, my mistake and thank you for the help Ken!" and starts to walk off at a quick pace towards the Elder's home.

Hakkaku walks up beside him and says, "What are you going to do when you see her?"

Ginta looks at his friend and says, "I don't know. I haven't planned that far ahead." Ginta and Hakkaku continue to walk towards the Elder's home in silence until they reach the gate.

Ginta looks at the gate nervously and swallows a little, before Hakkaku says, "After coming all this way, are you going to knock or should I?" Ginta shakes his head and says, "No, I'll do it." He stares at the door for a few more moments before he reaches out and knocks on the door gently and then says, "Well, I guess no one's home. Let's go!" rather quickly.

Hakkaku says, "Do you really think anyone heard such a weak knock? You have to knock like this!" and then he proceeds to knock harder on the door than Ginta did before both being surprised when the door starts to open and reveals a woman standing there with a pleasant smile.

The woman looks at the two wolf-men and says, "Hello, I am Aoi. How may I help you two?" with her eyes wandering over Hakkaku's body for a few moments longer than Ginta's. She thinks to herself, "He's a little skinny but he has a cute face."

Hakkaku says, "Yes, we were told that there were some fox-girls here? Do you know if that's true?" Ginta looks nervously while his nose tells him that they are there.

The woman says, "Yes, they are. I believe they're all together at the moment in the tearoom. Would you like me to take you to them?

Ginta nods and says, "Yes, I would like to see them please." And then the two of them walk through the gate before watching her slowly push the gate closed which was a little difficult with the snow on the ground. Hakkaku helps her by pushing the gate with a hand the last foot and she smiles at him when he does that.

Aoi smiles and says, "Thank you for your help, kind sir. May I know your name and your friend's?"

Hakkaku says, "I'm Hakkaku and he's Ginta" to Aoi before she smiles and bows to them. "Please follow me, I shall lead you to them."

Hakkaku and Ginta follow Aoi through the snow until they're upon the wood floor where there is no snow. Walking quietly, they pick up the scents of Kagome, Inuyasha and the others as well as the scents of other fox-demons as well. They look at each other before Ginta says, "How many fox-demons are here?"

Aoi continues to walk as she says, "There are four of them, Shippou, Aneko, Kaede and Midoro. As far as I know, Shippou, Aneko and Midoro are all family and Kaede is just a friend of Aneko's that was traveling with her." She continues to walk at her slow pace as she says, "I think the mother and daughter wanted to discuss some stuff and Kaede was asked to join in."

The three of them were almost to the tearoom when a familiar, rough voice behind them said, "Hey wolves! What are you two doing here?" Turning around they see Inuyasha, Miroku, Kagome, Shippou, Sango and Kirara in the hallway.

* * *

AN: Well everyone! Here's another chapter! I know that all you Koga fans want to see more of Koga, but hey! Don't worry he'll be around plenty! hehehehehe! What do you all think's going to happen? Only I know for sure:) I'm sure you wondered as well, "What were they discussing without Shippou around?" You'll just have to wait and see! Anyway, read and review this chapter please! 

For all you Dragonball fans, I'm going to update my SS Destiny story soon as well!


	25. Holiday Preparations

_**Chapter 24: Holiday Preparations**_

_**Story by: Eric Lentz aka Aero Tendo**_

**(At Elder's Home)**

Ginta and Hakkaku turn to see everyone and the first to speak was Ginta, "Sister Kagome!" with Hakkaku saying, "It is good to see you sister Kagome!"

Inuyasha says, "Where's that mangy wolf leader of yours, Koga?" with Hakkaku replying, "Our leader is taking a nap, so we came here to visit the fox-girl that we ran into earlier." Shippou walks up to the front and says, "Who are you looking for?"

Ginta blushes a little and scratches at the back of his head and says, "We're here to see Kaede, we met earlier when Koga was running and I didn't get a chance to finish talking with her because we had to keep following our leader."

A door opens behind them with Aoi listening and wondering what is going on and the three fox women step out to what was rapidly becoming a very crowded hallway. The eldest of the three said, "What's going on out here?" Kaede and Aneko were standing in the hallway as well with Kaede smiling when she recognized Ginta.

Ginta turned to face the fox-women and says, "H-Hello Kaede… Funny running into you here of all places." Kaede smiles and walks up to him until she's real close and runs a finger over his chest before saying, "I bet it isn't a coincidence, I'll just bet you came here to see me right?" Ginta turns quite red in his blushing and is left speechless until Hakkaku elbows him and says, "Yes, that's right. He wanted to come to see you. He couldn't get you out of his head."

Kaede looks at Hakkaku and then moves closer until her face is right in his, with her lips close to his before saying softly in a playful, teasing tone, "Is that right Ginta?" and all Ginta can do is nod and weakly answer "Yes" to her.

Aoi clears her throat, hoping to bring Kaede into the realization that there is a child nearby and thinks to herself, "She's about as bad as Sayo is." It isn't until Shippou says, "What is going on here Kagome?" that Kaede stops and steps back with a somewhat sly smile upon her face.

Kaede smiles and says, "Come with me Ginta, we should talk more privately." Ginta nods and starts to follow her but is stopped by Hakkaku saying, "Not too long, remember Koga doesn't know we're here and I don't want to get into trouble with him." Ginta looks at Hakkaku and nods as he says, "All right, not too long." Before he then walks with Kaede into one of the rooms connecting to the hallway.

Kagome says, "Koga doesn't know that the both of you are here? I hope that the two of you won't get into too much trouble."

Hakkaku says, "Oh, I wouldn't worry about us Sister Kagome. We'll be alright." However he starts to panic when Inuyasha says, "That is unless we tell Koga the next time we see him that you were here without his permission." Kagome smiles and says, "Oh, we don't need to do that, right Inuyasha?" and has that look that Inuyasha has come to realize that if he disagreed with her the next word out of her mouth would be "Sit Boy!" and that was the last thing he wanted so he agreed.

Kagome's face brightens up and she claps her hands together as she says, "I've got a great idea!" with everyone turning their attention to Kagome, Sango is the first to say, "What is it Kagome?" and Miroku joins in by saying, "Yes Kagome, what is your idea?"

Kagome smiles and says, "How about we have a Christmas Eve party? It'll be nice to get everyone together and just have fun!"

Sango smiles and says, "That's a great idea Kagome!" with Miroku saying, "I concur, it'll be a good chance to relax."

Shippou hops in the spot and says loudly, "You can count me in!" And Kirara gives off a "Meow!" which Shippou says, "Even Kirara wants to join in!"

Inuyasha grumbles and says, "All right, I'll join in too since everybody is so eager…" which makes Kagome even more happy that she leaps at him and with his arms crossed, he is left a bit helpless by a tightly-hugging, school-girl giggling Kagome with all this making Inuyasha blush very bright red. The rest of the gang just smiled and watched with a confused wolf demon wondering just what is going on.

Hakkaku looks at Kagome and says, "Sister Kagome, what is this Christmas party? Is it a celebration of something?"

Kagome looks at Hakkaku and is still hugging Inuyasha without any signs of letting go, she says, "From where I am from it is to celebrate the birth of a special religious person. But we're going to have an early party before I go back home tomorrow to be with my family. It is a time to be together with your family and appreciate all that you have."

Hakkaku doesn't look any more clear but he says, "Is everyone invited Sister Kagome?" with Kagome releasing Inuyasha to point a finger at Hakkaku and say, "Yep! The two of you are invited! In fact, I think you should bring Koga here and we'll all have a big party!"

Inuyasha growls before saying, "Hey Kagome! We don't need that mangy wolf at the party!" and Hakkaku says as he sweats, "B-but, that means telling Koga we were here…"

Kagome looks at Inuyasha and says, "Inuyasha! It is just a party! So, Deal with it!" To which Inuyasha grumbles and turns away from her. Kagome turns her attention back to

Hakkaku and says, "No problem! I'll go with you and explain that I came to see if he'll come to the party!" Hakkaku looks nervous but a little relieved, "Ok Sister Kagome, if you think it'll be ok."

Kagome smiles at the wolf demon before she bobs her head in a yes quickly and then she says, "Trust me! It'll be all right!"

Just then the Village Elder comes walking into the hallway slowly and says, "Hello everyone." He takes a look at the crowded hallway and says, "Is something going on?"

Kagome moves quickly over to the Elder and says, "Well, we were just thinking that with everyone here that we should have a party! What do you say? I think it'd be great!"

Shippou says in a low voice, "I guess Kagome forgot to ask the Elder about having a party in his home." Which gets a low agreement from the others.

The Village Elder looks at Kagome and the bright energy that she is asking with and so after a moment or two, he cracks a big smile and says, "Well it has been time since this old home has seen such activity. I think having a party is a great idea and so young lady, you have my blessings!" This makes Kagome squeal happily and give him a big hug with her arms around the neck as she says, "Thank you!" before letting go and not hearing him say, "My, what energy youngsters have these days." As she says to her friends, "Let's get this party started everyone!" to which nearly everyone cheers!

Inuyasha simply grumbles until everyone looks at him and seems to stare at him until he gets the idea and raises a hand over his head, "Yay, let's have a party!" without much enthusiasm but they take what they can get.

The next few hours are humming with activity as the whole place is decorated and lots of food is made for the evening party that is to come. Even Inuyasha got into the spirit of things eventually and his mood seemed to brighten until Hakkaku and Ginta told Kagome that Koga would be awakening soon. Kagome, Miroku and Kaede all decided to go meet up with Koga while they thought it would be best if Inuyasha stayed. Inuyasha of course argued right up to the point where Kagome had to use a "SIT BOY!" to get him to stay at the Elder's and continue helping with the party preparations.

**(Outside the village)**

Kagome, Miroku and Kaede went along with Ginta and Hakkaku to where Koga was and he was just waking up from his nap under the tree when he heard them arrive.

Koga leapt to his feet and ran over to stop in front of Kagome and smiles, "Hey Kagome, I see you're here without that mutt Inuyasha. Does this mean that you've given him up and decided to come be mine?"

Kagome smiled and shook her head, "No Koga, we were going to have a party in the nearby village and thought you'd like to join us."

Koga just had to ask, "Is that mutt Inuyasha going to be there too?" and Kagome says, "Yes, he'll be there but I want you both to try to get along for this party. This party means a lot to me!" The answer upsets Koga and tries to hide it but fails, at the same time though he knew he couldn't deny her whatever she asked of him so he says, "Very well Kagome, because you ask it of me. I'll be on my best behavior at the party for you."

Kagome's smile brightens up even more and she says, "Great! You can come and help us finish getting ready for the party!"

Miroku says to Kagome, "The party preparations are almost complete Kagome, I don't think we need his help."

Kaede was smiling as she held onto Ginta's arm and keeping him close with a blushing Ginta beside her and was pretty much speechless.

Koga growls, "Are you saying I'm not good enough to help with the party, MONK?" which makes Miroku raise a hand and say, "That's not it at all, I'm just saying that by the time we get back I think the party will be all set."

Koga crosses his arms and says, "I see…" before turning his head to look at his two men and says to them, "Good job of bringing Kagome here safely!" The two of them look a bit relieved before Hakkaku says, "No problem Koga, we knew we couldn't let anything happen to Sister Kagome!"

Koga notices Kaede and says to Ginta, "About time you got yourself a woman Ginta." And this makes Ginta blush as Kaede says, "You hear that? We've got the blessings of your leader." Ginta nods and says, "Y-yes, I heard." While blushing a bit as he looks at Koga and Hakkaku for help.

Koga turned his attention back to Kagome and says to her, "When is the party going to happen?" and Kagome smiles and says, "This evening when the sun sets. Why don't you come right now? I would love to introduce you to Shippou's family."

Koga reaches forward and grabs Kagome's hands and looks her in the eyes and says, "Anything for you Kagome." But while gazing into her eyes, he suddenly remembers what Aneko's eyes were like and without realizing it he starts to stare too long at Kagome when all he could see was Aneko before him.

Kagome shakes her hands in his and says, "Um… Koga, can you let go… Please?" which snaps him out of it and he lets go of her hands a bit quickly before turning away and hoping that she didn't see his blushing at the thoughts of another woman.

Koga thought to himself, "Damn, why can't I get that woman out of my head! I have Kagome! I love her!" but the last words didn't feel completely true, more hollow than anything even though he wouldn't admit it to anyone, lest himself.

Kagome says, "Let's go back to the Elder's house, I'm sure the party is all ready by now." And with her big smile, everyone just nodded and followed her back to the village and the Elder's home where it was decorated with lots of candles and other decorations.

**(At the Elder's home)**

All the women, including the fox-women were in the kitchen and doing the last minute cooking while Inuyasha, Shippou and the Elder were in the living room just chatting when Inuyasha says to no one in particular, "They're back and they've brought back the mangy wolf."

Shippou hops to his feet and says, "Kagome's back!" before he runs out the door and meets the group just as they reach the front steps to the home after coming through the gate. He smiles at Kagome and says, "Welcome back Kagome!"

Kagome smiles and says, "Hello Shippou! Did you have any problems while I was away?" Shippou shakes his head and says, "Nope! We got everything done and the food is ready to be served!"

Kagome claps her hands together with a big smile and says, "That's terrific! I can't wait to start the party!"

Koga says to Kagome, "I can tell this party is going to be good Kagome with all the work that everyone's put into it." Which gets a smile and a "Thanks Koga" from her in return.

Just then Koga looks at the house and sees Inuyasha standing there with his arms crossed and says, "Hello Inuyasha" while remembering his promise to be on his best behavior while there.

Inuyasha nods and simply says, "Koga…" before walking over to Kagome and says, "I did the decorations like you asked." This makes Kagome nod briefly and say, "Thanks Inuyasha, you've been a big help with the party!" When Kagome says that to Inuyasha, he takes the chance to give Koga an "I helped with this party, and you didn't" look which makes Koga glare at Inuyasha but he remains quiet.

Kagome grabs the arms of both Inuyasha and Koga, hooking them into hers and says, "Let's go in!" before she starts to lead on with both of them looking quite surprised and casting a glare at each other of "Hey! Let go of my woman!" to each other before they clear their faces when a smiling Kagome looks up at the two of them. She says, "This is going to be such a fun party! I don't think we'll ever forget this one!" as she walks with the two of them side by side to her with Miroku and Hakkaku following with Kaede and Ginta trailing at the end.

They walk into the dining area where there was lots of food already placed out on the table with everyone starting to sit down wherever they liked with only Aoi and Sayo serving refreshments for a little until Kagome invites them to join in. At first they say no, but after the Elder insists, they both give in and join in until sun goes down.

Aoi and Sayo walk around lighting the candles while Midoro is chatting with Aneko on the porch even as Soten and Shippou are playing with some sparklers that Kagome brought from her time.

Koga and Hakkaku look around, as the place becomes an incredible sight with all the snow everywhere and the candles slowly lighting up the place beautifully. Hakkaku says to Koga, "Sister Kagome and the others really did an incredible job decorating didn't they Koga?" Koga nods and replies, "Yeah, they certainly did… even with that Inuyasha's help they managed to pull of a great party." Which gets a ear twitch and a low 'grrrrr' out of Inuyasha since he heard that with his good hearing that he has.

Inuyasha and Kagome are sitting in the dining room just relaxing with Inuyasha about to ask her if Koga really HAD to be there but stops when he sees the very peaceful expression upon her face and his heart pauses in its thumping in his chest. He thinks to himself, "No… I won't say anything. Kagome deserves this moment of happiness after everything she's gone through."

Just then Aoi and Sayo walk in and Sayo says, "All the candles are lit Kagome, we can start the party anytime you're ready." Kagome grins and says, "All right! Let's get this party started!

* * *

AN: I want to take a moment to thank everyone who has been reviewing my chapters up so far, so without further ado. THANK YOU:) Also, I'd like to thank Mika-chan for putting in her AN's me being a good writer. :) Mika-chan is a good writer too, so check out her stories too! She also updates more frequently so you'll have something to keep you busy until my next chapter! lol! 

AP(Author's Preview): Next chapter will be the party of course! There will be a surprise for the party as well. :) If you can guess correctly before the next chapter, I'll try to draw a headshot of any char in my story for the winner:) How's THAT for a prize?


	26. It is Party Time?

_** Chapter 25: It is Party Time?  
Story by: Eric Lentz aka Aero Tendo**_

**(Kagome's Time)  
(Kagome's Home)**

Kagome's mother was smiling as she hummed the Christmas song, "Jingle Bells" and Sota was eating the leftover cookie dough with his Grandpa while the cat was sleeping in the living room.

There was a lot of snow on the ground, and still lightly snowing with the snowflakes no bigger than peas at this point. No one had gone outside in hours, long enough for even the lightly falling snow to cover footprints but there was a pair of footprints leading from the well that lead up to the living room window where the curtains were not drawn and someone was there, watching.

The silent figure watches them even as Kagome's mother walks into another room while Sota and Grandpa sit at the table and talk about how Kagome is supposed to be coming home tomorrow.

The figure's eyes glow briefly before turning and walks back towards the well, and closes the door before hoping down the well with only two wet drops that are tears from the silent figure on the edge of the well being markers that quickly freeze up in the cold weather and become small balls of ice. Even as the snow outside starts to become heavier, filling in the footprints within an hour.

**(Feudal Era)  
(Elder's Home)**

Kagome was smiling as she watched her friends having fun at the party. She saw Shippou and Soten having fun with the sparklers with the dancing light dancing over their laughing faces and the way the light danced over the white snow and casting away the shadows. She watched as Miroku and Sango danced apart using a style Kagome had shown them after Miroku's hand had started to rub her rear, causing her to slap him hard enough that his face was red though that hardly seemed to bother him. Kagome shook her head as she thought, "When will Miroku ever learn?" before her eyes wandered to where Inuyasha and Koga were just staring at each other and 'trying' to talk to each other without fighting because of the promise that they'd both made to her. She had to wonder just how long the peace would last and if they two of them would ever grow up, with the last part making her laugh loud enough that two of them looked at her with confused expressions upon their faces which only made her laugh again.

Shippou and Soten came up to Kagome quickly and Shippou says to her, "Hey Kagome! Do you have any more sparklers? We used up the ones that you gave us." Kagome nods and says, "I think I do, let me go check my backpack Shippou" and got up with Midoro's eyes following her leaving.

Midoro let out a soft sigh as she wondered when she'd work up the courage to tell Kagome how sorry she was for her role and about the pact that she'd made with Naraku.

Aneko came up behind her and saw the expression on her mother's face for a second before she managed to paste one of happiness on, but she wasn't fooled and thought to herself, "I guess she doesn't want to share whatever is bothering her." She reaches out with a drink and says, "Well Mother" and pauses at the way that sounds before smiling at her, "You know it feels strange after all these years to call you that, much less even talk to you."

Midoro smiles more genuinely as she says, "You don't know how many times I have wished that I could see you and Shippou, to hear you both call me Mother…" and her eyes get watery before she continues, "I am so very happy that the two of you are alive and healthy after all this time. I never stopped thinking about the two of you for a single day." Tears slowly fall down her cheeks until they drop off her chin to the floor below.

Aneko wraps her arms around her Mother and says, "I love you Mother, I always have and I know I always will." Stepping back and turning her head to where Shippou is, she says, "I know from the look on Little Fire's face that he is very happy to have a Mother again. I don't think anything or anyone will ever break up our family ever again."

Midoro smiles and remembers the painful secret that she carries before softly saying, "Thank you Aneko, I have truly wished for us to be together as a family ever since I discovered I still had one. I was devastated when I thought everyone was lost."

Aneko gives her Mother the most warm and loving smile she can and says, "I know exactly how you felt. When I learned that my home had been destroyed, along with Shippou and Father… I cried my eyes out until Kaede came and helped me. She knew I'd want to see the home for myself and was a supportive friend in a time when I needed her."

Midoro nods and says, "Well, I'm glad that you and your friend came when you did or we might have missed each other. For that, I owe your friend a debt of gratitude for helping bring our family back together."

Aneko smiles and hugs her Mother again before whispering as they hug, "I'm happy too Mother." And they stay that way for a few moments before breaking the hug.

Meanwhile while all this was happening, Kagome had gone into the bedroom where her backpacks were kept and while searching for sparklers she found some mistletoe that her Mother had put in to remind her of Christmas.

Kagome giggles and then grins as she gets an idea on how to liven the party up even more. She takes the mistletoe and the extra sparklers that were next to them before she then moves to the other backpack where her gifts for her friends were.

She gets the gifts out and says, "It is almost time, I guess I can give them their gifts early." Before picking up each of them into her arms and carries them out to where everyone is.

Everyone notices that Kagome was coming back with just more than sparklers and it is Shippou who comes up to Kagome and says, "What are you carrying Kagome?" before Kagome giggles and says, "Another thing about Christmas is the tradition to give gifts, and I have one for you in this pile Shippou."

Shippou hops up and down in the spot while saying, "Really! Can I see!" which makes Kagome smile and says, "In a second, I'll pass out all the gifts and then you can all open them together."

Miroku says, "But we don't have any gifts for you Kagome, it wouldn't be right to accept any from you." With Sango saying as well, "You didn't have to get us anything Kagome, being here at this party is enough."

Kagome says, "Don't worry about it! I want to do this and I am not expecting anything in return. Christmas doesn't work that way after all, just take the gifts and your smiles will be my gift from you guys."

Miroku is silent for a moment before saying, "Very well Kagome, in honor of your Christmas I'll accept the gift that you have to offer."

Shippou looks up at Kagome with big, eager eyes as any kid would on Christmas and wanting to know what they got. Even Soten looks eager even though she doubted that there'd be a gift in there for her.

Inuyasha looks at Kagome and says, "I don't need a gift…" and then changes his mind when Koga says, "Hey Kagome, if Inuyasha doesn't want your gift I'll be more than happy to accept it!" Inuyasha growls, "Hey! Are you trying to take my gift away!" to which Koga laughs and says, "I thought you didn't want a gift from Kagome!"

Kagome laughs and says, "Don't fight you two! Remember your promises!" which makes them both shut up but they glare daggers at each other until Kagome says, "Besides Koga, I have a gift for you too. I think you'll like it."

Koga seems to inflate in pride while Inuyasha grumbles but remains quiet while Kagome passes out all the gifts to everyone, starting with Miroku, then Sango and so on with a gift even for Kirara, which makes her meow curiously.

Shippou stares at his gift and hugs it before looking up at Kagome and says, "Can I open it yet? Can I? Can I?" while Soten looks down at the small box-shaped present in her hands and smiles in eagerness at the chance to open it.

Kagome says, "Not yet, I have one more thing to do before you can all open them." And pulls out of her pocket the mistletoe before she pins them to the top of the doorframe. She smiles and says, "There… now we're set." Turning to her eagerly waiting friends, she sees that Kirara is curiously pawing at her gift without actually breaking the wrapping. She giggles and says as she claps her hands together, "You can all open your gifts!"

The sound of wrapping paper being rapidly torn and ribbons untied is loud as Kagome watches them all tear into their gifts in record time.

Soten smiles as she says, "Thank you Kagome!" and holds up the box of crayons that she got from Kagome while Shippou is playing with the keys on his gift of a small toy piano, making musical notes come from it. Shippou looks up at Kagome and says, "Thank you Kagome! This is great!"

Sango got new clothes as her gift and smiles, "Thank you Kagome! I love the clothes!" to which Kagome replies, "I thought you would, I'm glad you're happy!" and smiles back at her friend.

Miroku looks at his gift and it is new beads and staff polish, smiling at Kagome he says, "Thank you Kagome, the gifts are wonderful."

Inuyasha looks at his gift from Kagome and it is a kit for his sword as well as some of the instant ramen that Inuyasha liked so much. Looking up from the stuff in his hands, he smiles, something that he didn't usually do and says, "Thank you Kagome!" before walking out of the room to make the instant ramen in the kitchen.

Kagome grabs her friends Miroku and Sango, pushing towards the door when Aneko and Koga walk towards the door to go out. They stop when Kagome shouts out, "Hold on you two!"

Koga and Aneko turn to face Kagome and Aneko says, "Yes Kagome?" Kagome has a big smile on her face as she points at the mistletoe above their heads and says, "Look up! Do you two know what that is?"

The two look up puzzled and then Koga says, "No, what is it Kagome?" with Aneko looking at Kagome for the answer as well.

Kagome giggles and says, "That is a mistletoe! When two people meet under the mistletoe together, they have to kiss!"

Miroku and Sango immediately get the idea of what Kagome was trying to do when she was pushing them and with a brief shared thought when their eyes met, they look away with both of them having blushing red faces.

Koga says, "No way! That can't be true!" before turning his gaze to look at Aneko who was blushing and he blushes red. He turns his head to look at Kagome and says, "Isn't there any way out of it?"

Kagome shakes her head, "Nope! You have to kiss or else!"

Koga gulps and turns his head back to see Aneko before Midoro says to Aneko, "Go on Aneko! We don't have all night! Kiss him! He looks handsome enough to me!"

Aneko blushes even more red than she ever thought possible and says in a pleading voice, "Mot-her! You're making this harder for me, so please!" Which only gets a chuckle from her mother before she takes a sip of her drink.

Koga and Aneko stare at each other for the longest time before Kagome says, "Kiss already!" The two of them look deep into each other's eyes, very nervously and being drawn towards each other slowly. Their hearts beat harder and more quickly until it becomes the only sound that they can hear in their ears over people telling them to kiss.

Koga thinks to himself, "I can't believe this is happening… this is almost like the first time we met." And parts his lips in preparation for the kiss and reaches out to put his hands onto her.

Aneko thinks to herself as she licks her lips, making them moist before parting her lips receive her kiss from Koga, "Finally… I've been wanting this since I met him." And trembles a little before closing her eyes as Koga gets very close. She can feel his breath upon hers, mixing with hers as she brings her hands to touch his cheek.

Koga slowly pulls Aneko closer to her until their lips meet and he kisses her softly, lingering and enjoying the feeling of the kiss with her. He feels her hand move from his cheek to the back of his head where his ponytail is and how good her fingers feel to him.

Aneko parts her lips more and slides her tongue into his mouth until she feels his tongue dancing with hers as her heart races even more within her chest. She has no idea how long the kiss lasts before she pulls her tongue back into her mouth, feeling the warmth of his strong wolf body so close to hers and presses at the back of his head where that cute ponytail of his is. She runs her fingers through it tenderly even as they slowly break the kiss.

The two of them just stare at each other before she whispers, "We're still under the mistletoe…" to Koga who only nods and presses his lips to hers again more quickly, more passionately with them both forgetting that there were other people in the room. They wrap their arms around each other and pull each other close even as Kagome grabs Soten and Shippou, and leads them out of the room through another door.

Miroku and Sango watch and glance at each other, with Sango blushing more red than Miroku was at thought of kissing Miroku that way. Miroku couldn't get Sango out of his mind, and whenever he looked at Sango, his eyes either met hers or he would look at her lips and wonder about those lips.

Koga and Aneko were really getting into their kiss as Aneko was pulling at the back of Koga's head as he slide his tongue into her mouth this time and he was pulling her closer which only made them want each other even more.

Midoro thought to herself with a smile on her face, "MMmmms, this takes me back to when I first met her father… He was quite the kisser too." And idly turns her fingers, making the liquid in her cup move about a little. She tilted her head a little and notices how hot they were going at what was supposed to be a simple kiss before thinking, "How could I have missed that they were in love with each other? Well, after this I am going to do my best to help my little girl and the one she loves get together."

Kagome comes back through the other door just as Inuyasha comes back from the kitchen with the instant ramen made and is just finishing his bite of the ramen when he sees Koga and Aneko kissing each other hot and heavy.

Inuyasha says loudly enough to penetrate Koga and Aneko's state of mind, "All right Koga! About time you found yourself someone other than Kagome!"

Koga breaks from the kiss and looks at Aneko, looking into her eyes before looking at Kagome and seeing her shout at Inuyasha, "SIT BOY!" several times, which makes him pound into the ground several times even as he tries to save his precious ramen from spilling onto the floor.

Koga runs off into the gently falling snow and out of the range of the candles to disappear into the darkness with Aneko crying out, "KOGA!" Her arm is outreached towards the direction he ran before she looks down at Inuyasha and shouts, "How could you Inuyasha!" and kicks him hard enough to flip him into the snow with Inuyasha somehow managing to hold onto the ramen cup so that it doesn't spill onto the snow.

Aneko takes off into the direction she saw Koga run off in and used her special ability to run fast so that she could catch up to him even if he used the jewel shards in his legs.

Kagome says, "Inuyasha! Sometimes you can be so DENSE!" and then she turns her back to him before shouting "SIT!" which makes him sink deep into the snow until all that's left is an arm sticking out, holding the ramen cup.

Miroku and Sango are still standing in the same spot as when all of this started while Kagome storms off into her room. Leaving Midoro and the Elder the only ones left and Midoro just stares out into the snow as she thinks to herself, "Aneko, I wish you the best of luck catching up to Koga…" before turning her head to look at the three still in the room with the Elder saying, "My… this has been quite the exciting party!" and gives a brief laugh.

Miroku clears his throat and says, "Sango… I think it is obvious what Kagome was trying to do. So, maybe we should leave before she gets the idea of pushing us under the mistletoe."

Sango turns to face Miroku and says, "M-maybe that'd be best… after all, who'd want to kiss a monk like you?" The Elder looks back and forth at the two of them and says, "Go on you two! Get under the mistletoe and kiss each other, I can tell you both really want to!" which makes the both of them go so red that people would swear steam came out of them both.

Sango turns to the Elder and shouts, "You can't seriously mean that! Why would I want to kiss a monk like him?" with her face very red the whole time. She doesn't get a chance to say anything further on the matter because at that moment, Miroku's hand rubs at her bottom and she turns to slap him!

The Elder winces at the loud slap and shakes his head side to side slowly even as Sango turns and says, "I'm leaving before you get any more strange ideas Miroku!" and walks out of the room passing under the mistletoe and out towards the other rooms, leaving Miroku following her and apologizing.

The Elder looks at Midoro and says, "Those two youngsters, they have it really bad for each other. I wonder why they fight it?"

Midoro looks after the departing two before her eyes drift to the snow outside and says in return, "I don't know…" with her thoughts on her daughter more than Miroku and Sango.

The Elder sighs softly before raising the tea up to his lips to slowly sip it, and not talking about it any further. He could tell when people wanted to talk, and Midoro didn't look like she was in the mood.

* * *

AN: Well people, I hope you all like this chapter update! Please read and review! I want to know what you all think:) For all you Koga fans, at least he didn't kiss one of the regulars like Kagome:) Prepare for the next chapter! That's right everyone, I've been on a writing spree! Just don't expect things to get any better right away!  



	27. So the Drama

_**Chapter 26: So the Drama (Disney does not have the rights to these words)**  
**Story by Aero Tendo**_

**(Feudal Era)  
(Elder's Home)**

Kagome is in one of the rooms fuming and wondering how Inuyasha can be so heartless and stupid while Inuyasha slowly pulls himself out of the snow and says, "I'm glad the ramen is ok." And sits on his rear upon the snow before he starts to eat the ramen until it is all gone.

Sango has the door shut to the bedroom with Miroku trying to apologize even as Kirara comes up to where they are and gives a soft "Meow" while looking up at Miroku. Miroku looks down at Kirara and says, "You're not going to judge me too are you Kirara?" Kirara simply meows again before sitting down in front of the door. Miroku sighs and apologizes once more before he heads down the hallway and into another room.

Midoro drinks some as she sighs after bringing the cup away from her lips and says to the Elder, "Those two have been gone a long time, I wonder if they're ok out there." The Elder replies, "Oh, I'm sure they'll be ok. They're young and they're both demons, so it isn't like they can get sick."

Midoro gives the Elder a cross look and says, "One of those 'demons' happens to be my daughter!"

The Elder picks up his cup and drinks it slowly, releasing an "Ahhhh, that's good stuff." Before he looks at Midoro and says, "I don't mean any offense Miss, I am just saying that they're immortal and you shouldn't worry about the cold giving them any problems."

Midoro frowns in thought for a few seconds before she picks up her drink and drinks a bit before looking out into the snow, lost in thought before the Elder gets up after finishing his drink and says, "Well, it is late. It is time for this old man to go to bed." Before he slowly walks out of the room, leaving Midoro all by herself for a little while until she decides that she is tired as well so she gets up and leaves the room, walking into the room that was set up for Aneko, Kaede and herself. Midoro notices that the room is empty, and figures that Kaede is with Ginta somewhere so she lays down onto the cot and has a hard time falling asleep, but she eventually does.

**(At Naraku's Castle)**

Kadoriko sits in her room with her eyes glowing an eerie bluish-white color until a sound is heard at the window and without turning her head she hears the sound of someone opening the window, then closing. She turns her head when she hears a voice say, "I'm back, and I think it will be easier than we thought to put our plan into operation."

Kadoriko's eyes slowly turn back to normal and she grins at Kagraku, "Good, now all that's left to do is make sure that Naraku and his girls don't get in our way." She starts with a very evil grin upon her face, which is joined by Kagraku's before Kagraku says, "Once my good twin is destroyed, this era and hers will belong to us!" Kadoriko nods in return and says, "Well said sister, and with Naraku out of the picture there will be no one left who will be able to stop us!"

Kagraku grins more, "Now we'll take a page from Naraku and set things up so that our enemies won't know what hit them until it is too late…"

Kadoriko frowns and says, "I sense someone approaching, you better get back to your room before we're discovered!" Without another word, Kagraku opens the window while Kadoriko's eyes glow once again and Kagraku makes for a silent, quick exit back to her room where once she's safe there the eyes return back to normal.

Kagura walks down the hallway with her fan in her hand, at the ready for after eavesdropping on them before she didn't trust them and suspected that they would try to eliminate her for what she'd overheard. However, she hadn't told Kanna or Naraku about what she had heard and hoped that her silence would tell them that she could be trusted and maybe she'd find out about whatever plan they were concocting.

**(Outside the Elder's home, somewhere on the grounds)**

Koga was running through the heavily falling snow and he couldn't see very far, so he was keeping his speed to normal. He thought to himself, "I can't see anything! If I'm not careful I'll end up hurting myself and back at the Elder's." Suddenly a vision of Koga laying on his back with a wound being treated by not Kagome but Aneko came into his head and he slowed down to a stop, breathing a little heavily because he wasn't using his jewels to give him strength.

Koga shook his head and looked around in the darkness and with the sky so thick with clouds and all the heavy snow; he knew that he could get lost very easily if he wasn't careful. He continues forward until he finds a tree, which didn't offer much in the way of protection from the snow but anything was better than running around in the darkness.

Aneko was running and using her nose to try to find Koga, and with the heavy snowfall she was having a hard time either seeing where she was going or keeping track of his scent. With a gust of wind every now and then, she'd catch his scent somewhere in front of her but she couldn't tell how far. Her heart beat quickly within her chest, as she wanted to find him, to talk to him. She whispered, "Koga, where are you?" hoping that somehow he'd answer back but was met with silence.

Koga closes his eyes and leans his head against the tree trunk and wraps his arms around him, shivering in the coldest winter that he could ever remember being in. Suddenly he got the urge to sneeze and with a fairly loud "ACHHOOO!" he grumbled, "Great, I better not be coming down with a cold already."

Aneko whipped her head in the direction of the sneeze and ran in that direction until she could pick up Koga's scent from directly in front of her and thanked her stars that the wind was blowing in her direction even if she couldn't see him just yet.

Then for a few moments, the wind calmed down and Aneko could suddenly see him! She saw that he was laying against a tree and shivering before the wind blow again, making it impossible to see him. She would not be deterred with her goal so close now and ran quickly towards where she'd last seen him, but the snow blinded her until she tripped on his feet outstretched and fell right on top of him!

Koga had heard something when all of a sudden something hit his feet just as he opened his eyes and barely managed to catch Aneko as she fell against him! Koga growled, "What are you doing here?"

Aneko smiled at him, ignoring his words before she wrapped her arms around his neck and says, "I'm so glad I found you Koga!" She gave him a big hug while the wind seemed to pause again and he was left speechless and before long, Koga slowly wrapped his arms around her, feeling her warmth and it felt… right somehow to him.

Aneko and Koga stay like that, keeping each other warm and falling asleep together without saying another word, and through the night the wind and snow slowly covered them up to their hips in snow which was really the only parts not really well covered by the tree.

**(Kagome's Time)  
(Kagome's Home) **

Sota was asleep in his bed, dreaming of tomorrow when Kagome comes home and they get to open all the Christmas gifts together.

Grandpa was petting the cat as he watched some a news report on the TV in the living room while the snow could still be seen falling through one of the windows that was partially uncurtained. The woman on the TV was talking about the heavy snowfall, one that was setting records for temperature and the amount of snow in an hour. Grandpa says to the cat while watching the TV, "Kagome's going to be in for quite the surprise when she sees all this snow after coming out of the well tomorrow." With the cat giving a soft purr as it fell asleep under his petting as it laid next to him on the floor.

Kagome's mother was wrapping up some surprise presents for Kagome and Inuyasha that she'd bought while Kagome was away as well as a few extra presents for Sota that she was going to sneak under the tree as soon as she was done. She pauses to reach for her cup when suddenly the cup cracks at the top and a visible split goes all the way down to the base but no liquid falls from it, surprised she approaches the cup and is shocked to discover that the hot drink she had placed down not very long ago was frozen!

Kagome's mother reaches out and touches the cup gently and felt that it was very, very cold to where it almost burned to the touch! This didn't make ANY sense to her since the house was a toasty 75 degrees inside! She looks around for anything that could have frozen the cup and the only thing that made any sense was that it was on the shelf closest to a window. Suddenly she heard Grandpa shout for her and she ran out of the room, missing the sight of ice slowly forming from the window to the floor and on the shelf where she'd laid the cup as well.

Grandpa was standing, holding the cat in his arms as the TV woman said that the temperature was taking a sharp decline and that people should turn up their heaters or else get to someplace fast where there was lots of heat because for some reason a sharp cold snap was headed towards their area! The map that suddenly showed up on the TV showed the extreme cold snap forming very close to her home!

Kagome's mother gasped as a thought occurred to her and she ran to Sota's room where ice was seeping in through the window and heading towards the bed! She ran over to him while Grandpa turned up the heat as high as it would go and scrambled for anything that would keep them all warm. She picked him up out of the bed, sheets and all and left the room, taking a moment to turn around and see more ice coming through the window and so she shut the door with her fingers and ran into kitchen.

Grandpa was already in there, plugging in some portable heaters and turning on the gas stove as well as the oven. He quickly says to Kagome's mother, "Quick, get under here by the stove" and had some very thick blankets and they prepared for the worse while the TV continued to report that the temperatures were continuing to drop and how the weathermen were at a loss to explain it.

Sota was very sleepy and had managed to sleep through all it and started to wake up when he feel much warmer than usual, almost stifling and tried to push the blankets off of him but they kept coming back over him until he heard his mother with a tone in her voice that instantly set off mental alarms in even his drowsy mind, "Keep the blankets on Sota!" He slowly woke up to see that he was in the kitchen and could see the breath turn into mist in the air before him when he says to his mother, "What's going on? Why are we in the kitchen?"

Grandpa says to Sota, "There's something going on with the weather, we're getting a bit of extreme cold and the only thing that's keeping us from freezing along with the rest of the house is the heaters and the stove.

Sota noticed the fear on his Mother's and Grandpa's face and then felt something move under the blanket to lay upon his tummy. He reached to the object and felt a furry object and figured that it was the family cat. He could hear the TV in the other room where someone was talking about the crazy, cold which continued until the TV got too cold to continue. And so with a loud SNAP and an electrical shorting sound the TV became quiet, leaving the family huddled in the kitchen and in the silence with no light other than the glow of the heaters and the blue flames from the oven.

* * *

AN: Well everyone, I trust that you enjoyed this chapter :) As for what happens to Kagome's family... you'll just have to wait and find out for the next chapter! If you read and review, I'll be sure to post a new one up asap!  



	28. Mistletoe Magic Strikes Again

_**Chapter 27: Mistletoe Magic Strikes Again  
Story by Aero Tendo**_

**(Feudal Era)  
(Elder's Home)**

Sango got up from her futon and slowly peaks out the door only to see Kirara sleeping in front of it. She pulls the door open further and sighs as she thinks, "That Monk, why did he have to act that way?" before she slowly walks into the kitchen to make something for herself.

Miroku heard a noise and got up out a futon and slowly walks out to investigate. Walking down the hallway, he hears noises from the kitchen and pauses, moving into the dining room adjunct to it and waits to see who it might be.

Sango finishes her drink and walks out back towards her room and is passing the dining room when she hears a familiar voice say, "Sango…" and she turns quickly to see Miroku standing almost under the doorframe. She takes a half step towards him so that she too is almost under the doorframe where the mistletoe is.

Miroku looks at her with that serious look of his upon face and says, "I'm sorry Sango, I truly am." While Kirara wakes up down the hallway and slowly does a stretch.

Sango says, "It is all right Miroku, I forgive you. I just needed time to sort things out." She looks at him in the eyes and thinks, "Would you have really kissed me under the mistletoe?" but instead says, "Can you imagine Kagome? She was trying to get us to kiss."

Miroku nods and takes a small step forward so that he can look deeper into her eyes and says, "Yes, I know. And to be honest, I think it was one of Kagome's ideas as a Christmas present for the both of us."

Sango was shocked as that thought hadn't occurred to her and she blushed, "R-really? Why do you think she'd do that?" she says while looking up at his eyes, looking very dreamy at the moment while looking all the while very serious.

Miroku says, "Because she must think that we love each other. But I'm curious, do you Sango? I… love you Sango."

Sango couldn't believe her ears and blushed very redly. Sango could understand now how Aneko must have felt under the mistletoe. Then a thought occurs to her as she realizes where they are, and she looks up to see that she is standing under the mistletoe! She remembers Kagome's words about any two people meeting under the mistletoe having to kiss or else!

Sango gulps quietly and says, "M-Miroku, I… don't know what to say." Before she then tries to move back away from Miroku and the mistletoe but found that she couldn't! She was unable to move as Miroku moved closer and says to her, "I know that we're under the mistletoe Sango… but I won't force this. Will you kiss me Sango?"

Sango is unable to even break eye contact with Miroku and with her mouth feeling so dry from her nervousness all she can do is feel her head nodding a yes in answer before feeling Miroku reaching up with his left hand and touching her cheek very softly even as he lowered his head towards hers.

Sango thinks to herself, "I can't believe it! Miroku is REALLY going to kiss me!" without any bad feelings and she didn't feel that other hand of Miroku's messing up the moment for her either.

Miroku watches as Sango closes her eyes and her lips move to accept a kiss before he thinks, "Sango is so beautiful right now, and I love her." He gently presses his lips to hers for a long, tender kiss while Sango doesn't move as if she is frozen in time with the only exception being her lips pressing more in kind to his.

Kirara starts to walk down the hallway towards where Sango and Miroku are and sees them kissing under the mistletoe. Kirara pauses and just watches the two, wondering how long it'll last before Sango ends up slapping Miroku and when the kiss lingers longer than she thought it would, she wonders if she should do something and simply gives a soft, inquisitive Meow.

Miroku barely hears the soft meow by Kirara but it is enough to bring his awareness into the face that he is kissing Sango. He becomes aware that Kirara is there but he is still into the kiss with Sango that he drifts back into the kiss.

Sango was always aware of Kirara's every sound since it could mean the difference between success or defeat and became of the soft question, which sounded like Kirara was asking her name in a puzzled tone. This brought Sango into the realization that she was kissing Miroku and enjoying it! She blushes and immediately pushes herself away from Miroku!

Miroku looks surprised and says, "Sango…?" before he receives a big slap to the face and watches as Sango runs off down the hallway with a bright red face, holding her cheeks by her hands. Miroku looks down at Kirara and says, "What did I do?" with only a soft Meow from Kirara as his reply.

Sango runs down the hallway and into her room, closing the door hard and quickly while still blushing very bright red. She thinks to herself, "I can't BELIEVE that just happened! Miroku did NOT just kiss me!" and then brings a finger to her lips as the memory comes back of the kiss and all the feelings.

Sango traces her lower lip with her finger as she recalls the way Miroku looked just before she closed her eyes and her heart beats more quickly within her chest. She softly whispers, "Miroku…" just barely loud enough for her to hear it herself.

Snapping out of it, Sango hears footsteps and assumes that it is Miroku so she stays quiet and leans against the door to keep anyone from opening it but the footsteps just walk on by without even pausing but she does hear a soft sigh so she figures that she was right.

Sango slowly slides down until she's sitting and lets out a breath of relief before she glances at the door, wondering what tomorrow will bring after they kissed like that under the mistletoe.

**(Kagome's Time)  
(Tokyo, Japan – where Kagome's home is)**

The city was going through very severe and cold weather and in a effort to keep the population warm the power stations were being pushed to the maximum. It was only good luck that the severe cold hadn't reached as far as the power stations, so it was able to keep up with the demands that the population was asking of it.

The reporter was standing inside a building where she could see through the window now that the cold snap had passed and saw that only a few of the more cold-resistant lights had survived which caused the city to look very eerie. She holds a microphone up and turns to face the camera guy before saying, "The weird cold snap that has affected much of Japan seems to have passed now and for any viewers out there, it is recommended that you stay inside where it is warm until official help can reach you. This is Kameko and I'll keep reporting on the weather every thirty minutes to keep everyone informed."

Kameko waits until the camera guy gives the signal that they're offline before she collapses to her knees and sighs, "Shima, what are we going to do? We're trapped here just like everyone else in this city.

**(Kagome's Home)**

From the outside, everything was still for everything had a good coating of ice covering it for the cold snap had frozen everything solid. Everything from the steps leading up to the shrine to the well that Kagome would travel through had a good coating of ice and snow with the exception of two little spots on the edge of the well which had frozen drops of water but nothing covered them. Even the sacred tree was frozen with a inch of ice covering every inch of it.

From out of Kagome's home the windows looked ice over but even still, somehow there seemed to be light flickering visibly, dancing in a soft glow of red. As the view shifts through the ice-covered windows and into the kitchen of Kagome's home, it is easy to see that the red glow was coming from the heaters that were still on and the blue flames of the oven were also still on fully even though the home's heating system had given out under the cold snap. Yet for all the light and heat, there was no detectable sound right away until one of the heavy blankets moves and a muffled voice is heard.

The view shifts to under the blankets where there were three people and a cat. The muffled voice had belonged to Sota where he asked his mother, "How long do you think we'll have to stay under here Mom?"

Kagome's mother wrapped Sota into her arms and looked at Grandpa before saying, "I don't know Sota. At least until this strange cold weather passes." To this the cat simply meows and turns onto its back while laying in Grandpa's lap so it could get a belly rub.

Sota says, "Mother, I'm scared! Where did this freaky weather come from?" and his mother simply runs her hand over his head as she softly says, "I don't know… I wish I knew Sota."

Grandpa looks up from the belly rubbing that he was giving the cat and pauses which makes the cat squirm unhappily while he says, "I'll tell you what this is! This is magic!" He resumes rubbing the cat's belly, which makes the cat settle down before he continues saying, "I'll wager that this cold weather has something to do with one of Kagome's enemies!"

Sota looks at his Grandpa, then his mother before saying, "Do you think Grandpa is right?" which got Grandpa to say, "Of course I'm right! How dare you think otherwise!" which was largely ignored by Sota as he continued saying, "Do you think Kagome's ok?" She looks down at her son and says, "I don't know Sota, but remember she has Inuyasha and her friends with her. I don't think they would let any harm come to Kagome."

Sota brightens at the mention of his hero Inuyasha and nods with his mother's hand still on his head, "Yeah! That's right! Inuyasha is with Kagome, so I'm sure she's all right!" His mother looks in the general direction of the well and thinks to herself, "I hope you're right Sota. Please come home soon Kagome." But says to Sota, "I am sure you're right Sota. Inuyasha has always come through for Kagome before."

Grandpa nods and says, "Of course Kagome is just fine! She's a tough girl and a priestess to boot!" while he stops rubbing the cat's belly again which had enough anyway and hops off his lap to stretch on the kitchen floor.

Sota smiles and says, "Yeah! You're right for once Grandpa! I'm sure Kagome's probably on her way to rescue us with Inuyasha!" Grandpa grumbles, "What do you mean for once?" and pouts a little but gets over it just as quickly.

So, the three of them stay cuddled under the heavy blankets which were already covered in a thin layer of ice, but was melting quickly enough due to the heat that the stove and electric heaters were putting out. It was only a matter of time before enough ice melted and made the floor wet.

* * *

Yes, I know... I just wrote NINE more pages of stuff very quickly! Where did I get nine? 4 for this story and 5 for the side story titled Koga and Aneko's Dream. You won't find the side story in Kagraku due to the fact that it just didn't fit with the regular flow of the Kagraku story. It is mostly a fluff piece anyway. Please read and review both this one and the other. If my side story is well liked, then I'll add it to Kagraku as a main piece as well. To find it, just click on my name at the top of the page, it should be in the lists of stories that I've written and posted. Oh, and I hope you all liked Miroku and Sango finally getting to kiss:) The cold snap for Kagome's time, I got as an idea from the movie titled "The day after tomorrow" (at least that's what I think it is titled) but unlike that movie, the effect was more local and not naturally caused.  



	29. Christmas Day! Part 1!

_**Chapter 28: Christmas Day! Part 1!  
****Story by Aero Tendo**_

**(Feudal Era)  
(Elder's Home)**

Inuyasha, Kagome, Miroku, and Kirara had all slept in the same room while Sango had been too embarrassed to even join them so she stayed in another room. Shippou had stayed with his mother who stayed up very late waiting for Aneko to come back. Midoro had fallen asleep waiting by the window with Shippou sleeping so peacefully in her arms.

Kagome was the first to awaken and when she saw that Sango wasn't in the room, she went looking for her. While she was looking, she also decided to see if Aneko had returned and went to Midoro's room, which woke up both mother and son.

Kagome says to Midoro, "Didn't Aneko ever come back?" and this got Midoro's brain to jumpstart to full alert status. Midoro looked around the room and since Shippou was still waking up fully, she tightened her arms around Shippou and says to Kagome, "No, she never did." She looks into Kagome's eyes and says, "I am worried Kagome, do you think she is all right?"

Kagome wondered too and says, "Oh, I'm sure that she's alright too. They probably just didn't want to wake you and Shippou up when they came back. After all, they wouldn't have stayed out in the middle of a blizzard would they?"

This didn't do anything at all to help Midoro's worry as she could see in Kagome's eyes that she did not believe that they had returned either. At this point Shippou had woken up and asked about where Aneko was with neither of them answering him.

Shippou hoped out of his mother's arms and says, "We've got to find her! What if she got lost in all that snow out there when she ran after Koga?" The two women look at each other as if they'd both been thinking the same thing before Midoro says, "You're right Shippou, let's go find them and see if they're ok."

Kagome says, "I'll go wake up everyone. We'll need all the help we can get to find them if they are lost out there." With Shippou saying to Kagome, "Please hurry Kagome! I am worried about my sister!" Kagome nods and replies, "Don't worry Shippou! We'll find them! I promise!" before she runs off towards her room where Inuyasha and the others are.

Inuyasha had already awoken with all the noise that Kagome was making down the hall and was out to open the door when Kagome pulled it open very suddenly! His hand immediately went to the hilt of his sword in case of trouble before he relaxed it, seeing that it was Kagome but his hand didn't totally relax when he saw Kagome's worried expression.

Inuyasha says, "What's wrong Kagome?" and uses his senses to see if there were any unusual demons around but aside from the foxes and the wolves, he didn't really detect anything.

Kagome says, "Inuyasha! Aneko and Koga didn't return last night from the blizzard! Midoro and Shippou need our help finding them!"

Inuyasha saw Kagome's worry plain as day upon her face and says, "Fine, let's get going. Where are the others?" Just then Miroku says, "I know where Sango is, I shall retrieve her and we'll all meet in the dining room to discuss our next plan of action."

Kagome says, "Thank you Miroku. Inuyasha and I will go get the Koga's guys, they might be able to help track Koga down." Inuyasha grumbled but didn't say anything as he followed Kagome down the hall while Miroku walked to where Sango had run off into the night before.

Miroku taps on the door and says, "Sango, there is a problem and Shippou needs us. His sister didn't come back last night after she took off after Koga into the blizzard." He heard sounds of shuffling behind the door before the door opened quickly and there stood Sango in her Demon Slayer outfit.

Both of them stood there with their eyes meeting, neither one of them unable to say a thing as their memories of the night before where they had kissed came flooding back. Kirara walked down the hallway and simply sat down, looking curiously back and forth but not making a single sound this time.

This time it was Sango who broke the spell and says in a softer voice than she had wanted to speak in, "Shippou needs us… I guess we should go." And with a nod in silent agreement from Miroku, the two of them go down the hallway a little more apart than usual. They would glance at each other until the other started to look in their direction in which they'd look forward as if that was what they'd been doing the whole time. Kirara walked between them and would occasionally look up at the two of them and wondered if they were playing a new game or something.

When Miroku, Sango and Kirara reached the dining room they saw that Kagome, Inuyasha, Midoro, Shippou, the Elder, the two girls, as well as Koga's men were already there.

Inuyasha was sitting on the ground with his sword in one hand and looks at the three of them before saying "Took you guys long enough, what were you two doing?"

Miroku and Sango look at each other with a light blush on their faces before Sango says, "Nothing! I just had to get into my outfit Inuyasha." And then she walks over to sit by Kagome while Miroku walks to sit in the only empty spot left which was right in front of Sango.

Kagome notices that Miroku and Sango are acting a little weird and whispers to Sango, "What's going on Sango? Did you and Miroku have a fight?" Sango whispers back, "No… and I don't want to talk about it right now Kagome." So Kagome leaves it at that and turns her attention back to the group.

Midoro starts off by saying, "I waited for Aneko to come back so that we could talk. But she never did and the blizzard was so strong last night that I am worried that she got lost or possibly hurt herself out there!"

Inuyasha does a flashback… _A very young Inuyasha was in the forest and had gotten lost after running away from some demons that had chased after him. He had barely managed to make his escape but it was dark already and he didn't know how to tell which way was home. He walked for a long time, ready to jump at every shadow and sound that he heard. _

_Suddenly Inuyasha heard a sound coming from a nearby bush and ran from it. But because Inuyasha was in a hurry he wasn't watching where he was going and fell from a short cliff, injuring his arm! He started to cry for his mother when again another bush near him rustled and he tried to stand up but he found that he had also sprained his ankle! _

_Inuyasha tried to stay quiet in hopes that whatever was approaching him would not see him and leave him alone. He held his breath in nervous anticipation when who would come from the bushes but his mother and Sesshomaru! He didn't care that his older brother was there but he was overjoyed to see his mother and cried out to her, "Mother! I'm over here!"_

_Inuyasha had never been so relieved as to see his mother, and when she wrapped him up in her arms he held onto her tightly. It wasn't until he felt something touch his cheek, that he looked up and saw tears falling down from her. Concerned that he'd done something wrong he says to his mother, "Mother, please don't cry! I won't do it again!" only to be held tighter while his mother whispered to him, "Don't worry Inuyasha, my tears are of joy at finding you… I thought I had lost you forever." _

_Sesshomaru gave Inuyasha a cold stare as if to say, "You're not worth the trouble." Before saying, "Come, we must leave before any demons come seeking the scent of Inuyasha's blood." And so they all go back into the bushes that they'd just come from and walk quietly until they're safe at home. _

End of flashback.

Inuyasha stands up and says, "Don't worry Midoro, we'll find them! I promise that we'll bring Aneko back to you safe and sound!" Kagome looked up at Inuyasha in surprise and was partially touched by how strongly he said it to Midoro.

Shippou leaped at Inuyasha and hugged his leg as he says, "Thank you Inuyasha! I know we'll do it for sure!" Midoro gave a motherly smile in thanks, one that Inuyasha had missed seeing from his own mother before hearing her say, "Thank you Inuyasha, I truly appreciate hearing that." Midoro gets up and walks around to give Inuyasha a soft hug in thanks which makes Inuyasha a little uncomfortable but at the same time he welcomed it even as Kagome smiles at the nice sight.

So, after that everyone pairs up and picks a direction from the very spot where Koga and Aneko took off from. Fortunately the snow was only very lightly falling now with the snow the size of the grains of sand.

Inuyasha paired off with Kagome, Ginta paired with Kaede, Hakkaku paired with Sayo, Shippou and Soten with Aoi, which left Sango, Kirara and Miroku joining up with each other to make the last group. Everyone each picked a direction with plans to meet back in two hours if they didn't find anyone. If anyone found the other, they would shout as loud as they could for anyone else and if no one showed up then they would do their best to meet back at the place at the end of the two hours.

Everyone started walking, some more quickly than others and they fanned out from the Elder's home with the Elder staying in case Aneko and Koga showed up while they were searching for them.

Kagome and Inuyasha walked for a while before Kagome softly says, "Inuyasha? Do you think they're alright?" Inuyasha was walking on her left and sniffing the air every few seconds, so he paused and without looking at Kagome he says, "Yes, it'll take more than a blizzard to do in those two." Without another word Inuyasha continues to walk and sniff the air, even getting on all fours every so often to sniff the ground but with so much snow any scent had become long since buried.

Ginta and Kaede were walking along with Kaede holding hands with him in a very happy way. Ginta was trying to take the search for Koga seriously since Koga was his leader and friend, so he didn't want anything to happen to him. Ginta shouted every so often, "Koga! Can you hear me! It is me, Ginta!" but he didn't hear a reply even though he could hear Hakkaku and Sayo shouting every so often as well with his wolf ears.

Ginta says, "Kaede, we're trying to find Koga and Aneko! Will you please help me?" Kaede gives Ginta a soft squeeze on the hand and says, "Anything for you hon." And leans over to kiss his cheek before she shouts "Koga! Aneko! It is Ginta and Kaede!" before she sniffs the air but all she can smell with all the snow all around is Ginta and herself.

Hakkaku and Sayo were walking alongside each other with Hakkaku sniffing the air in between his shouts for Koga and Aneko. Sayo was a human so all she could do was look around and shout with Hakkaku.

Sayo looks at Hakkaku and says, "Hakkaku, do you think your leader is ok?" with Hakkaku pausing where he is and says in return, "Yeah! Koga is a wolf demon and no one is tougher than him with those jewel shards embedded in him!" Sayo could still see the worry on his face and hear the small bit of doubt in his voice but a question nagged at her and so she had to ask. Sayo puts her hand on Hakkaku's shoulder and says, "Please forgive me for asking this, but if something did happen to Koga… who would take over as the leader of the pack?"

Hakkaku stopped walking and Sayo took a step or two before she realized that he stopped completely and turned around to face him. Sayo say Hakkaku looking at the ground with his hands in fists that trembled just a little. Hakkaku says while he looks at the ground, "I… I don't know, Ginta and I are the only ones left and it usually goes to whoever is the strongest or whomever the others will follow. I don't know if I want to be the leader. It is possible… that we may just decide to join up with our cousins in the mountains if we can't decide."

Silence meets them after that so Sayo walks up the few steps and puts her hand on Hakkaku's shoulder and says, "Don't worry, I'm sure Koga is alright. After all he wouldn't let a nasty blizzard stop him from returning would he?" Jerking her head in the direction in which they were walking she then says, "Come on Hakkaku honey, let's go find your leader." To which he then nods and walks a few more stops before they begin to shout even more louder than before for Koga and Aneko.

Shippou, Soten and Aoi were all shouting loudly for Aneko and Koga to come out wherever they were hiding until Soten says, "Shippou, do you suppose that they're hiding from us and don't want to be found?"

Shippou stops where he is and says, "What do you mean Soten? Why wouldn't they want to be found?"

Soten looks at Shippou and says, "Well… what if Koga and Aneko just needed some time alone to talk after what happened at the Elder's? They might decide to come back on their own."

Shippou shakes his head vigorously and then says, "No! My sister wouldn't make people worry like this! I think something is wrong!" Soten looks down a little, sad for having brought up the possibility at all when Aoi suddenly says, "Now you two, this isn't helping us find them. I think we should find them first before we start to jump to any conclusions."

The two nod together and start to walk again, shouting for Aneko and Koga to come out once more while Aoi thinks to herself, "Oh Aneko, I truly hope that you're ok for Shippou's sake. I would hate for him to lose his sister after just discovering that he found out that he still had one." Before she shouts loudly for Aneko and Koga to come out or let them know where they are.

Miroku shouted loudly for Aneko and Koga to come out while Kirara walked alongside Sango who also shouted in a different direction. Every so often they would look at each other until Sango caught Miroku looking in her direction and she turned around quickly so that he wouldn't see her blushing face.

Miroku thought he'd seen her blush but he wasn't sure and softly says, "Sango… are you still upset about last night? He approaches Sango who wasn't very far away and puts his hand upon her shoulder, which she jumps a little at before she relaxes a little.

Sango shakes her head and says, "N-No Miroku, I haven't given last night another thought." Which was a complete lie as she had even had dreams of her and Miroku kissing in her dreams. She had even been unable to stop thinking about the kiss while awake and when this situation came up she had been glad for the opportunity to think about something else and get her head on straight about Miroku. She hadn't exactly been happy about being paired with Miroku though when the time came for pairings as she had hoped that she would be able to get away from him and not face this but it happened anyway.

Miroku who was behind Sango with his hand upon her shoulder says, "I'm sorry if I caught you off guard, it is… just that you looked like you wanted the kiss as much as I did Sango." The effects of Miroku's words were that she blushed even more bright red and steam came from her ears briefly, as she knew that she truly HAD wanted to kiss Miroku at that moment, mistletoe or not.

Sango didn't quite know what to say to Miroku as she had been left speechless by the truthfulness of his words with her thoughts locked in a loop until she felt Miroku's hand rubbing her rear! She wondered to herself, "When did he move his hand from my shoulder to my rear!" before she turned around quickly and gave him a loud slap!

The slap had been heard as far away as the most distant group, which were Inuyasha and Kagome. When Inuyasha heard the slap he muttered, "I knew it was a bad idea to pair those two up." Kagome shook her head and says, "I know but something was up with them and I figured they needed some time to patch things up."

Meanwhile Aneko and Koga were still in their deep sleep with the heavy snowfall from the blizzard covering them both up to their shoulders in a perfect white blanket. The level of snow had even risen a few inches around the base of the tree that which they had sought shelter under. Only a few small puffs from their faces indicated that they were still alive at all.

Everyone's shouts were slowly getting closer, but all the shouting was for naught as they were in a very deep sleep with each other. The voices only served to become snowflakes in their dream, dancing and sharing their happiness with each other. The faces of Koga and Aneko were a bit more whiter than they normally were due to the cold but upon their faces were also signs of pure happiness at being next to each other like they were. There was nothing in the world that could have awoken them before they were ready to awaken.

The voices continued to grow louder as they grew closer and closer. Most of the voices that called for them overlapped each other because there were so many people all calling for Koga and Aneko. Even though Koga and Aneko heard, they didn't hear for they were so wrapped up within their shared dream with each other.

The loudest voices were also the most close to Koga and Aneko. So as they approached Koga and Aneko the dream state seemed to quicken towards its finality. The voices remained unknown to the two of them for they were so far away from the reality that which was their dream state.

So that when the loud voices calling for them discovered the two of them under the tree by a stroke of luck became very loud shouts about their location. They knew that the increased shouting that which brought the shouts and sounds of everyone else to their location, that their dream world could not last so they, surrounded by the snowflakes in their dreams, ended their shared beautiful dream which would be a dream that the two of them would forever remember as clear as a bell for the rest of their lives.

* * *

AN: Well, as someone once said it must be snowing someplace hot because I've been writing and posting chapter after chapter! LOL! Anyway, I plan on revealing WHO discovered Koga and Aneko later... (maybe) hehehe :) I thought it would make for a good cliffie. Believe it or not, I managed to find it within me to finish this after reading Mika's newest You're Real story:) Also, for those who have been upset with me about Miroku and Sango's kiss... hey! They'll get another chance later! All those who are fans of Kagome and Inuyasha kissing, all I can say is... wait for it too:) (as hard as this may be.)

My favorite writers are: Mika, Wackygirl and well... heck all the writers I've got in my list are among my favorites! Kudos to all the good writers:)

PS>I might be starting a non-anime story sometime soon. If I do, it'll probably be a short story... maybe. :)


	30. Christmas Day! Part 2!

_**Chapter 29: Christmas Day! Part 2!  
****Story by Aero Tendo**_

****

**(Feudal Era)  
(Elder's Home)**

Everyone was gathered around Koga and Aneko in a bedroom which made it a bit too cramped so a few people were hanging out in the hallway. The closest ones to the pair were Midoro, Kaede, Shippou, and the village doctor who had been summoned by the Elder.

Midoro looks up at the doctor while on her knees and holding Aneko's hand, which felt so very cold and says, "Will they be alright?" Her eyes showed so much motherly worry within them and the doctor had seen that sight all too many times. After a few moments of putting away some herbs that he'd been mixing he says, "Yes, they'll both be alright. They managed to keep each other warm enough so that their lives will be in no danger." This got a bunch of relieved sounds from everyone which quickly silenced as the doctor continued saying, "However, I think that the two of them should get plenty of rest and warm stuff for next few days just to be on the safe side."

Midoro nods and says, "Trust me doctor, they'll both be staying in bed until I'm sure that they're all right." She softly squeezes her daughter's sleeping hand before she looks down at her and thinks to herself, "Please wake up soon Aneko."

The doctor stands up and says, "Well, I have done all that I can do for now. Just let them rest and they should recover." The Elder says, "Thank you for coming doctor Juro. We shall contact you if their condition changes." Juro looks at the Elder and says, "Very well. Good bye, Elder." and leaves quietly.

There is much silence in the room as they look at the two sleeping forms with Midoro still holding her daughter's hand. Midoro thinks to herself, "Please daughter, open your eyes. When I saw you laying there so white, almost as white as snow in Koga's arms… I thought I had lost you and that was unbearable for me. I didn't want to lose you after having gotten to know you and see what a beautiful, healthy girl you've grown up to be."

Midoro trembles a little at her feelings and squeezes Aneko's hand a little as her thoughts continue, "I only wish I could have been there to see you grow up." Tears slowly start at first, but then they flow freely down her cheeks and she shuts her eyes tightly. The tears continue to flow until they drip off her chin and start to land upon Aneko's hand and arm, with the tears running down to her elbow where they fall the ground below quietly.

Kagome holds onto Inuyasha who is standing beside her and sniffles at the sight of Midoro and Aneko, remembering how her own mother has been there for her with so much of the motherly love. A love never asked and yet always there for their child no matter what they've been through.

Inuyasha doesn't quite know what to say or do but he senses that she needs comforting so he does the only thing that he can think of. He raises his arm around Kagome's back and puts it on her shoulder.

Sango, Miroku and Kirara notice but Shippou is too busy worrying about his sister to notice. Sango gave Miroku a glance before blushing and looking away quickly while Miroku looks at Sango until she looks away and softly sighs with his shoulders sagging while Kirara just looks at the two of them curiously.

On Koga's side were his two men, Ginta and Hakkaku with a lot of concern that was upon their faces.

The Elder says, "Ok everyone, I think it is time that we gave the young demons some space and time to recover. So, with that said, everyone out!" Aoi and Sayo both started to usher out the people minus Midoro, Shippou and Koga's men.

Everyone met up in the dining room where it was almost time for breakfast while Aoi and Sayo were busy cooking in the kitchen when the Elder says to Kagome, "Kagome, didn't you say that you were going to go visit your Mother today?"

Kagome gasps and gets up from where she was sitting as she says, "Yes! I promised my Mother that I would be home today in time for breakfast!" She runs from the room and starts to stuff whatever she can into her bags, when Inuyasha walks in and says, "Calm down Kagome! I'm sure your Mother will understand if you're a little late!"

Kagome stops what she is doing and gets watery eyed and says to Inuyasha, "You don't understand, I've always been there when everyone wakes up. I've always watched Sota open up his presents. It is tradition!"

Inuyasha can see how much it means to her so after a sigh, he says to Kagome, "Fine… we'll go."

Kagome gets up from where she is and tackles Inuyasha in a hug as she smile big, "Thank you Inuyasha!" before she quickly kisses him on the lips which makes Inuyasha blush and weakly say, "D-don't mention it Kagome." Before he notices Miroku, Sango, Kirara, Kaede and the Elder looking at them. He sees that Miroku and Sango are blushing but also smiling at the two of them with the Elder smiling and saying, "Ah, young love…" Kaede leans over and whispers to Kagome, "Kiss him again girl, I think he deserves it!"

Inuyasha blushes redly and pushes Kagome off of him before Kagome can kiss him again. He stands up in a intimidating pose and says, "It isn't what it looks like guys!"

The Elder says, "No need to be bashful young one, I think getting kissed by a beautiful girl is a wonderful thing!" Which makes Inuyasha blush red and yell, "What are you talking about old man!"

Kaede giggles at Inuyasha's embarrassment and says, "What is wrong Inuyasha? You didn't like Kagome's kiss?"

Kagome has already gone back to finishing her packing like a blissful child and Inuyasha doesn't want to upset Kagome any more even though he DID enjoy her kiss so he just yells, "Leave me alone Kaede!" and leaves the room quickly. Kagome hums a cheerful Christmas song as she continues and everyone chuckles before following out after Inuyasha.

Inuyasha walks into the bedroom where Koga and Aneko are and says, "Any change?" with Midoro looking up at Inuyasha and shakes her head before softly saying, "No Inuyasha…" Even Koga's men have their tails between their legs as they wait by his side and don't answer.

Inuyasha says, "Shippou, Kagome is going to go back to her time. Do you want to come with us?" The expression on his face is softer than it usually is but noticeable only by those who have been with Inuyasha as long as his friends have. Shippou noticed and appreciated the kind gesture.

Shippou is beside his mother and looks up at Inuyasha before saying, "Thanks Inuyasha, but I think I'll stay here until my sister wakes up." Inuyasha nods and says, "I understand, see you when we get back ok Shippou?"

Shippou looks at Inuyasha with gratitude in his eyes and says, "Thanks Inuyasha!" with Inuyasha replying as he walks out of the room, "Don't worry about it, just make sure she gets better alright?" Shippou shouts after him, "I will Inuyasha!" and then he was gone from sight.

**(Short while later)**

Kagome is standing at the entrance to the Elder's home with her backpack and her friends, Miroku, Sango, Kirara and Inuyasha since Shippou decided to stay and watch over his sister.

Midoro, Shippou, Kaede, Aoi, Sayo, Soten, Koryu, Koga's men, and the Elder are all there to see Kagome and her friends off while Aneko and Koga are resting peacefully.

Kagome looks at all the people with teary eyes and a big smile before she says, "Thank you everyone, it has been great! I'm so happy that I got to meet new friends and I'll always remember you guys!"

Miroku says, "Thank you for having us around Elder, your hospitality has been most kind." With the Elder replying, "Think nothing of it monk! You and your friends are welcome here anytime as my guests!" He waves to the group with a smile.

Sayo and Aoi say almost together at the same time, "Come back anytime!" and wave at Kagome and her friends.

Koga's men both say together, "Come back soon Sister Kagome, we'll miss you!" and they wave to Kagome and her group.

Kagome sees on Shippou's face the worry and sadness and kneels down to give him a hug as she softly says, "Don't worry Shippou, your sister will be fine. She's a strong woman just like me, so just have faith in her."

Shippou hugs Kagome back and says, "Thank you Kagome!" and then they break the hug with both of them not noticing Soten's slightly jealous face. However Miroku didn't miss it and thinks to himself, "I see why Soten came with Midoro now, she wanted to see Shippou because she likes him. I wonder if Shippou knows…" Before Miroku could ponder the thought any further, Kagome stands up and says, "Thanks everyone for seeing us off!" and waves before turning around and walking out the gate.

Everyone stands there, watching with Kagome turning every so often to wave with a smile on her face, until they walk far enough to disappear. So they all head back on in with Midoro, Shippou and Koga's two men walking in to check on the two in the bedroom.

Midoro gasps and quickly covers Shippou's eyes since she's the first one in with Hakkaku and Ginta dropping their jaws in surprise at what they see. Before the four of them was Koga kissing Aneko on the lips and quite deeply at that!

Koga had scooted over from his bed to where Aneko lay and had his chest pressing against her blanket while he kissed her and it could be seen from their viewpoint that Koga and Aneko were tongue wrestling whenever they paused for air. Koga's hand was caressing Aneko's cheek and she seemed to be trying to hug him though the heavy blanket.

Through the whole thing Shippou was squirming under his mother's hand over his eyes, complaining but not loudly since she had shushed him sharply. Finally Shippou had enough and managed to squirm out from under his mother's hand and was shocked to see Koga and his older sister kissing for a second before Hakkaku managed to cover his eyes but when he told Shippou to not look, he spoke too loudly and it caught the attention of Koga and Aneko who slowly broke the kiss, lingering at each other's lips.

The one who saw the small group was Aneko in which she pulled up her blanket over her head as she cried out in surprise and blushed furiously red! She couldn't see everyone's face but she could still hear, even if it was somewhat muted by the blanket.

Koga blushed as he tried to remain calm and collected but it was evident to everyone that it was an act, even Shippou who had finally managed to slip free of Hakkaku's hands once they had realized they were busted! He says, "H-Hello… I was just giving her mouth to mouth to help wake her up…" He couldn't read Midoro's expression, as it was curiously neutral, so he didn't know if she was angry or what.

Ginta says, "Koga! I'm glad you're alright!" with Hakkaku joining in by saying, "We thought we were going to lose you!"

Midoro says in an odd voice, "I am sure that you had intentions of waking her up Koga…" before stepping into the room and stopping to stand before Koga. She continues then by saying, "However, I think you and my daughter were enjoying yourself a bit too much." Which makes Aneko cringe under covers and blush even more furiously!

Koga is left speechless for once and doesn't know quite how to explain himself, since he'd woken up first and saw her sleeping so beautifully. He remembered the dream and before he knew it, he had been kissing her with her responding in kind. He knew of course that would be the last thing she'd want to hear.

Fortunately Shippou was helpful by saying, "What is going on? What happened here?" and so with no one wanting to fill in on such a young child what had been going on, they all panic! Shippou looked up at his mother and says, "Mother! I want to know, what just happened here? Why isn't anyone talking?"

Koga earns a bit of a reprieve by saying, "Nothing, we just woke up and everyone is just so happy that we're all speechless!" He sits up a little and says, "Hey guys, it is good to see you two! Anything happen while I was gone?"

Shippou runs over to his sister's side of the bed and pokes at the blanket with a finger as he says, "Hey big sis! Are you feeling ok?"

Aneko nods and the nod can be barely seen under the blanket as she says loudly enough to be heard, "Yes Shippou, I'm all right." And so he pulls at the top of the blanket in an effort to pull it down and see her face. He succeeds by catching her off guard and she goes "Eep!" before seeing her brother. She says, "Hello Shippou, I'm sorry I made you worry!" and opens her arm for him to hop at her into, sharing a nice hug.

Shippou steps back from his sister after they hug and says to his mother, "I'm going to go tell everybody!" and runs out of the room. Midoro who didn't move an inch clears her throat and Aneko knows it is her mother. She slowly turns and looks up at her mother, wishing she could pull the covers back over her but Shippou had yanked them down to her feet.

Aneko waves a hand weakly at her mother and says, "Hi Mother…" with her mother giving her a cold look for a few moments before she slowly cracks a smile from her left cheek which spreads to her right. She looks puzzled up at Midoro before she watches as she leaps over Koga and comes to stand next to her side of the beds.

Midoro leans down and whispers low enough for Koga not to hear the words, "I approve dear, Koga is quite the handsome catch. You better not let him slip away from you." From her mother and then wink at her which makes Aneko blush so brightly red that people from the moon could have seen her with a little steam blowing out her ears as she turns her head to just 'look' at her mother in amazement!

Aneko is left very much speechless while Koga talks with his men and quite noisily at that! The last thing that she'd expected from her mother was an approval about the kind of guy that she was seriously interested in! She puts her hands on her face as she just stares into space with her face still quite red about everything with her mother just very lightly giggling at her daughter.

Midoro just wanted her daughter to be happy and Koga seemed like a nice enough fellow that she approved of him. She wouldn't ever admit it to her children but seeing Koga and Aneko so passionate and in love with each other reminded her of her own beginnings with their father.

Suddenly there was the sound of footsteps in a hurry coming down loudly in the hallway and Aneko snapped out of it. Aneko managed to get her blushing partially under control when Shippou came back with Aoi, Sayo, Elder, Soten and her little buddy. It seems as if almost everyone manages to appear at the doorway at the same time to Aneko who sees Shippou leading everyone.

Everyone came in, almost all were talking at once with the exception of the Elder who simply walks over to Midoro and says to her, "Can I come to the wedding when your daughter gets married?" in a low enough voice that with the loud ruckus that everyone was giving to Aneko and Koga, no one heard what he asked but her. In answer to his question she smiles and bows a hair, nodding her answer of "Yes" to him to which he smiles and turns his attention to watch the two get barged with questions.

* * *

AN: Well, Part 2 has come and gone! Guess what is coming next! That's right! Kagome's Christmas in her time! Will there even BE a Christmas for Kagome? Read the next chapter and find out:) Read and Review please!

Authors of the week: Mika-Girl101 and InuYasha's Only Kagome-kun


	31. A Memorable Day for Kagome!

_**Chapter 30: A Memorable Christmas Day for Kagome!  
****Story by Aero Tendo**_

**(Kagome's time)  
(Outside Kagome's home)**

There was a lot of snow on the ground with everything very heavily frozen by what had happened earlier and it was a good thing it had passed because a few moments later, from within the place of the well a brief but bright blue light was seen since one of the doors had become ajar by the crazy weather.

Voices could be heard before some silence, then more talking as Kagome could he heard saying, "That's strange… I can't open the door!" with sounds of her struggling. Miroku and Sango join in the pushing and the door that was a little ajar scoots only a tiny bit as it pushes into the high wall of frozen snow. The tiny scoot was enough to reveal to Kagome that the snow was above hip high! She couldn't believe it! It never snowed that much in Japan!

Kagome says, "What is going on! We're trapped in here!" and starts to get panicky as she worries about her family in the house with this much snow on the ground! She says, "We've got to get out of here and find out what happened to my family!"

Inuyasha pulls out his sword and says, "Everyone step back!" Everyone steps back to behind Inuyasha before he shouts "wind scar" as he swings his sword and a terrific force of wind erupts to blast the doors down as well as dig a very nice clawed path out of the snow!

**(Inside the house)**

Sota says, "Did you hear that?" with Grandpa saying, "I heard it too! It sounded like something being blasted by a great force of wind!"

Sota smiles and says, "It is Inuyasha with his sword! That's the only explanation!" He looks at the two and says, "Kagome's back! I just know it!"

Kagome's mother smiles as she says, "Well, then let's go greet them home." Before she pushes up and they are greeted by the great cold still hanging in the air but at least there was the heat of the furnace and other stuff, which was still warming the house slowly.

They keep the blankets over their bodies as with every breath they exhale mist can be seen. She moves over to a window that overlooks the great tree and sees Kagome and her friends coming towards the house quickly with Kagome on Inuyasha's back as he leaps quickly and Sango on Kirara's back with Miroku sitting behind her.

Kagome's mother moves towards the door when she sees them disappear out of sight and when she hears Kagome yell through the door, asking if she's ok she yells back, "Kagome! We're all right! I am so happy to see you!" She turns the handle on the door and pulls inward which causes a large amount of snow to fall inward which also brings in Kagome and Inuyasha together since they'd been standing closest to the door when it happened.

Kagome's mother leans over with the blanket around her shoulders and says, "Kagome! Are you alright?" and is surprised when Kagome leaps up, wrapping her arms around the neck in a hug as she says, "Yes! I'm so happy to see you're alright Mom!"

Kagome's smile is big and quite lit up as she then steps back and says, "Well, looks like I missed quite the snowstorm!"

Sota walks up to Inuyasha as he stands up and says, "Boy Inuyasha, I'm glad you got here. We were worried that you guys would be affected by the extreme cold that just about froze up everything!"

Miroku slides in through snow, followed by Sango with Kirara in her arms in her tiny form. Miroku turns to offer his hand to Sango who lets go of Kirara and she lands to walk over to Kagome's cat, which was looking at the arrivals. Sango accepts Miroku's hand and he pulls her up gently until she is on her feet.

Miroku says, "Are you all right Sango?" as he holds her hand still while Sango says, "Yes Miroku, thank you for the help up." He looks down at her hand that he is still holding before Sango looks at the hand and quickly pulls her hand free as she turns to the side while blushing softly.

Sango clears her throat and says as she manages to get her blushing under control, "It is warmer in here than I would have expected. Where's the fire?"

Kagome's mother says, "We don't have a fireplace but we do have devices that create heat for us." Before she sighs and then says, "Unfortunately the cold snap overwhelmed our heater and I think it'll be some time before anyone can get out to us to help repair it. We're going to just have to get used to the electric blankets and heaters." She walks over to the door where the snow fell through and says, "The house will never get warm if we don't do something about door and all this snow."

Kagome says, "We'll help Mom! Come on guys, let's get this snow out of here!" and bends down to scoop up the snow in her hands to start tossing it out before Miroku says, "Wait Kagome, I have an idea! Stand back please."

Kagome steps back in the clear as Miroku gets up close to the snow and frees his wind tunnel so that all the snow on the floor and immediately outside the door gets sucked up before he seals it back up.

Kagome's mother claps her hands together and says, "Amazing! I'd heard about your wind tunnel from Kagome but to see it for myself is just amazing!"

Miroku smiles and says, "It was nothing…" and rubs the back of his head, pleased by the comment. While Sango frowns at him getting so easily flattered.

Kagome says, "Thanks Miroku! You're so handy!" and walks over to the door, closing it easily now. While Kirara meows at the family cat that chooses to slowly approach Kirara and sniffs at her.

Kagome's mother says, "I'm sorry but I don't have anything made right now, will you all wait while I cook up some food?" Everyone nods and Sota takes one of the space heaters into the living room to try to warm up the room where there is a Christmas tree all beautifully decorated and because of the cold snap, it is covered in frost which makes it sparkle magically-like in the light.

The sounds of stuff being in the made as well as a cheerful Christmas song being hummed can he heard while Kagome tries to turn on the TV but it remains dark and unresponsive which frustrates her until Sota says, "Sorry sis, but the cold snap blew out the TV." Kagome pouts a little and says, "Aw, I wanted to see how long the weather's going to be like this on the news."

Sota thinks about it for a few moments before he gets an idea and says, "I'll be right back!" and runs off before he comes back in a few minutes with a portable radio with a external speaker. He says, "I think this will still work" before flipping it on and with a bit of static noise at first which makes Inuyasha jump and draw his sword, a voice can be heard coming from it. Miroku, Sango and Inuyasha approach the radio and are amazed by a voice coming from something so small.

The small group listens to the radio talk about the strange weather conditions that seemed to start almost magically overnight to become one of the worse winters to ever hit Japan in all of Japan's recorded history! Just then Kagome's mother comes in and says, "I forgot I had some cookies, would anyone like them?" with a big plate of cookies.

Inuyasha smiles and says, "I would!" and walks over to scoop up a handful before jamming them into his mouth. Kagome says, "Hey! Save some for the rest of us Inuyasha!" and walks over to grab a cookie to eat.

Miroku walks over with Sango to grab a cookie before Inuyasha ate them all and Sota turns off the radio just as the person was beginning to say that the coldness seemed to originate around the area of Kagome's home but was interrupted so that he could grab a cookie as well.

Kagome heads off to the kitchen to grab some drinks for everyone and returns with several glasses of milk. So it became a mother and daughter team where they served their friends and they both walked into the kitchen together while everyone else stayed in the living room enjoying the cookies and milk. Even from the kitchen they could hear Sota telling Miroku about the secret to really enjoying cookies… dunking it in their milk!

Standing side by side as they put the plates and a few glasses in the sink, with the mother on the left side and the daughter on the right. She looks down at her daughter and sees a young woman full of love and happiness with a sense of pride about the way she has raised such a wonderful daughter that she'll always trust in her judgment and will always be so very proud of her. She turns to Kagome and says, "Kagome…" smiling at her lovingly as Kagome turns to her with a smile on her face and she says back, "Yes Mom?"

Kagome's mother says, "I just want you to know how very proud and how much I love you Kagome. You've made some very wonderful friends and found a very nice guy of whom I approve of." She looks into Kagome's eyes and even though puzzlement and surprise show on her face, she continues with a smile upon her own, "Kagome, should the day when you and Inuyasha want to marry." She reaches out with a hand to tenderly touch her daughter as she says, "And I also want you to know that no matter where… or when you want to stay, I will always trust you to know where you belong in your heart. So don't worry about me, Grandpa or Sota when it comes to where you want to stay. We'll be fine as long as you're happy."

Kagome says, "Oh Mom!" and wraps her arms around her mother, tears flowing down her face even though she is smiling. She remains there before she looks up at her mother and says, "Thank you Mom!"

Her mother puts her hand upon the back of Kagome's head and says, "You don't need to thank me, just be happy. That's all I want for you Kagome." Kagome is left speechless and continues to cry a little bit until they stop on their own after a while when her mother says, "We better go back, they're going to wonder what happened to us." And with a nod from Kagome, they both walk back to the living room where Inuyasha is standing by the Christmas tree checking it out as the frost melts and drips onto the floor as the room warms up.

The two of them put out the extra cookies and glasses of milk that they'd brought with them before Kagome's mother leans over and whispers, "Kagome… look where Inuyasha is standing?"

Kagome looks and blushes as she sees that Inuyasha is standing under the mistletoe looking rather bored as Sota explains how the radio works to Miroku and Sango only a few feet away. Looking at her mother who smiles at her and gives her a nod before gently pushing on her shoulder in the direction of Inuyasha.

Kagome walks slowly towards Inuyasha and stops to stand before him with her cheeks blushing. She says, "Um, Inuyasha…?" getting a puzzled look from him before he says, "Kagome? Do you need something?"

Kagome points up at the ceiling and says, "I… I would like a mistletoe kiss from you…" with Inuyasha looking up and looks shocked to see that he is standing under one! He blushes more red than Kagome and says, "Y-Y-You don't have to k-kiss me if you don't want to Kagome!" while inching backwards just barely until Kagome says, "No… I really do" and looks up at him right in the eyes, which freeze him. She says, "I love you Inuyasha! Don't you want to kiss me too?"

Inuyasha puts his hands around Kagome without another word, lost in her eyes and the words from her. There is no sound in the room as all eyes watch and then they slowly and very lovingly kiss each other. The kiss is gentle at first, then grows into something more tender and loving as Inuyasha wraps his arms more around Kagome to draw her closer.

Kagome feels the warmth of his arms wrapping around her, pulling her closer towards the demon that she loves very much. She wraps her arms around his waist just under his arms with her hands coming up to rest upon the back of his shoulders.

Inuyasha feels lost within the kiss and knows in his heart that Kagome is truly the one for him. No other woman, not even Kikyo has ever made this happy nor this complete. Kagome has seen his good sides, his bad sides and even his weak human side. Through it all she had always remained by his side, always. He knew that he could not stand the thought of it being any other way so he continues to draw her closer until all that could be see of Kagome was her head as she kissed him and her legs.

Kagome's mother put her hand up to her lips as she watches with a smile and almost whispers something but instead mouths, "Be happy Kagome" as she remembers how Kagome told of his very good hearing.

Sota watches his older sister and his idol kiss each other with such love and it makes him blush as he remembers how the two of them tried so hard to help him tell the girl that he liked her, and the warm hug that the two of them had shared upon his telling of his feelings to her.

Miroku and Sango watch quietly, fully aware that they had to be quiet as they could be lest they ruin the moment for them and it was nice to see the two of them finally connect.

Sango looks up at the mistletoe over Inuyasha's head and then glances over at Miroku who is still watching Inuyasha and Kagome kiss before she remembers her own kiss that she shared with him under a mistletoe back in her time. She blushes warmly as she looks away from Miroku with her lips parting ever so lightly as she tries to get extra air and without realizing it she licks her lips to remember the taste of Miroku on her lips from that night.

Even though Sango tastes a little bit of the cookie that she had just eaten, the touch itself was enough to trigger the strong memory, the way her heart beat so happily when she was with Miroku just like Kagome was. Once she remembers that she gets a pang of sadness and jealousy because she missed Miroku's kiss, so she looks at Miroku again quickly who is then caught by Miroku stealing a quick glance at Sango. With the situation as it was, both quickly look away and blush a little bit.

Kagome's Mother who had looked around to see the reactions of everyone else did not miss the blushing. She smiles and thinks to herself, "Kagome's right, they make a cute couple. If only they would follow Kagome's example and be more sure about themselves and their love for the other."

**(Feudal Era at the same time)  
(Elder's Home)**

Koga and Aneko were sleeping in the room at the Elder's insistence even though both had strongly said that they felt fine. The Elder had told them that until the healer came back to check on them, they were going to follow his orders and made sure that they got plenty of bed rest. So after a good warm meal and some pleasant conversations, everyone eventually left and after a short bit of embarrassing goodnights, they had laid down to get their rest. However, for Aneko her sleep was anything but restful as she stirred and twisted under her blankets for the dream was very disturbing for her.

**(Aneko's dream)**

She was standing somewhere but she couldn't make out the place very clearly yet she was scared. She didn't know where anyone was and every fur on her body was standing on end, waiting for something to happen. She could feel her heart beating so quickly. She was running and she could hear sounds of fighting that was far off and no matter which way she ran, the sounds of fighting got closer, the voices sounding more and more familiar.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash as if a wall had been knocked down, and when she turned she saw her friends, old and new all fighting some shapeless figures, and the part that chilled her was that the only parts that she could see clearly were the eyes, glowing brightly against all the destruction and the light seemed to seer deep into her. She felt herself frozen on the spot when she saw the eyes for just the moment before her friends attacked again and the creepy eyes had to look away.

Aneko's friends prevailed in pushing away the shapeless ones but what was left was so much destruction, there were fires all around and even now she could hear shouting and fighting going on all around her. There were bodies around and because of all the fire dancing around, casting eerie shadows upon everything she couldn't identify anyone. She walks around and everyone she saw was face down with only the clothes looking somewhat familiar but she couldn't place it for some reason, as if some part of her mind was rejecting whatever it could possibly be.

Suddenly, a sound that chilled her to the soul was heard near the direction her friends had been chasing the shapeless ones in and she ran. The run seemed to last forever in a kind of slow state and no matter how hard or fast she tried to run it never got any faster until she finally sees the source of the sound, a person that is covered in a dark shadow with only the arms visible and part of one foot.

She knew somehow that this person laying in the shadow was the one she had been seeking. She slowly approaches the person in the dark shadow and the moment her hand enters the shadow, she felt a hand touch her own shoulder! She cries out in both the dream and in reality and opens her eyes quickly to see Koga waking up from her cry.  
**(End of Dream)**

Koga moves closer to her with every sense on alert in case there was another reason for her to cry out. He looks around to see if there was anyone around that could scare her like that before he says, "Aneko? Are you all right? What's wrong?" He moves to wrap his arm around her and put one hand on her shoulder with his other hand upon her arm closest to him. He doesn't understand why she flinches a little at the touch on her shoulder before she seems to relax and lean against him.

Aneko remembered her dream when he touched her shoulder before she turns towards him a little and leans into him. Taking comfort in his warmth and the scent of him as she presses her face into him a little. She whispers, "Oh Koga! I had the most horrible dream!" She turns her head to look at his face and say, "There were two horrible sets of eyes by shapeless creatures that were battling all my friends. I didn't know where you were at all. I was so scared for you, and I don't know why." She reaches up and puts her hand on his shoulder as she lays her head upon him just below his chin. She says, "Don't ever leave me Koga." And when Koga says, "Don't worry Aneko, I promise I won't ever let anything happen to you and I won't ever leave you."

The two of them stay together like that for a long while with no one else coming to visit them so it was safe to assume that only Koga had heard her cry but neither notice the tiny slit in the doors to the hallway where eyes were watching.

Aneko pushes a little back and says, "Thank you Koga… I feel better now and I know just how to thank you. I will sing you a little song." She looks into Koga's eyes deeply while still close to him before she starts to sing.

(Aneko sings)

_Daytime, I'm fine  
Everything is back to normal  
Last night, I thought that I would die  
I had nightmares  
I was so scared  
Thank God that you are by my side  
To hold me when I cry_

_I wanna be strong  
But I don't want to be alone tonight  
I wanna believe that I can save the world  
And make it right, but I'm only human  
And you've got a hero's face  
Right here in your arms  
Is the safest place_

_It feels so real  
You showed me I can trust you  
With emotions I had locked away  
It was your touch, your words  
They heal the deepest part of me  
That only you can see_

_I wanna be strong  
But I don't want to be alone tonight  
I wanna believe that I can save the world  
And make it right, but I'm only human  
And you've got a hero's face  
Right here in your arms  
Is the safest place_

_As long as I am with you  
As long as I can feel you  
That's all I need to keep me going  
On and on and on and on_

_I wanna be strong  
But I don't want to be alone tonight  
I wanna believe that I can save the world  
And make it right, but I'm only human  
And you've got a hero's face  
Right here in your arms  
Is the safest place_

(Song ends)

The eyes watching smile at the two of them as Aneko and Koga lay down after the song and with his arms around her, Aneko gives Koga a soft and tender kiss on the lips with him smiling in return before she falls asleep with a soft smile upon her face as they lay back down with Koga pulling the covers over them both before he too joins her in sleep.

Turning away from the door Midoro smiles and walks away quietly so as not to disturb the two. She is very happy for her daughter with her steps having a lighter, happy step to them and her tail swishing light as a feather. She continues on until she reaches the kitchen where Aoi and Sayo are and joins them in making lunch.

* * *

AN: Well everyone I bet you all enjoyed that chapter. I'd like to give credit to Mika for the song, it was so nice that I just had to use it! (Well she pushed for it too... lol!) Upcoming will be more scenes at Kagome's home. The bad guys make an appearance once again. Oh, and Sango will think about Miroku. Aneko and her dream, or is it a dream? Only time will tell and only I know for sure! 

My favorite authors are of course Mika-Girl101, WackyGirl101, and Inuyasha's Only Kagome-kun.  
My favorite readers... ALL of them! So if you're read this story, give yourself a pat on the back because I appreciate it and your reviews:) May your pets and familes be happy around you for the day:)

With all that, please read and review! Thanks!


	32. Friends? or Maybe More?

_**Chapter 31: Friends? Or Maybe More?**_

_Story by Aero Tendo_

**(Kagome's time)**

Everyone is sitting at the dining room table eating the food that Kagome's mother had made quickly while the house seemed to be growing steadily warmer and more lively with Kagome sitting across from Inuyasha, Sota sitting Inuyasha's side, Grandpa sitting at the end of one table which left Sango and Miroku sitting next to each even as Kagome's mother continues to watch over a few things she still was cooking and serving them as soon as it was done.

Kagome's mother had to admire one thing; everyone seemed to have a big and healthy appetite! Of course she was hungry too and had her own plate of food that she was eating from by the stove as she walked around. She paused when she heard the cat meow near its empty supper dish, so she picks the bowl up and gets the cat food out so she can pour the cat food into it before she returns it back to the floor where she gets a grateful meow and a purr before it starts to eat quickly.

Kagome kept giving Inuyasha playful looks at Inuyasha and he didn't know quite what to make of the looks that Kagome was giving him but they were making him feel very uncomfortable. She kept batting her eyes and giving him a playful "I wanna kiss you look" every so often.

Sota didn't notice since he was eating but everyone else certainly did and while Kagome's mother didn't mind and Grandpa simply ignored it after seeing Kagome and Inuyasha kiss, he figured that it was just better that he stayed out of it especially after the look he got from Kagome's mother when he started to stay something. After Grandpa was done eating he got up and went to the living room and started to read the paper since the TV was still broken.

Sango and Miroku couldn't help but notice Kagome and Inuyasha as they ate and Miroku quietly gave Sango a look that made Sango wonder if he was thinking about their kiss.

Sango blushed a bit as she tried to ignore Miroku and continue to eat. She was having trouble eating as she kept thinking back to the kiss that they shared back at the Elder's place and when she had seen Kagome and Inuyasha kiss under the mistletoe, it had all come back in full force. She had almost given into the urge to turn to Miroku right there and kiss him full on the lips just like Kagome was doing, but fortunately (depending on how you look at it) for her, the training she had as a demon slayer allowed her to be able to given in to such temptations. Still, there was nothing in all her training or travels that had prepared her to be in such a loop over a simple kiss… no scratch that, a very loving kiss with Miroku.

Throughout all of this Miroku watched Sango pick at the same rice endlessly while having a soft blush on her cheeks. He guessed that Sango was still feeling pretty embarrassed about the kiss at the Elder's home under the mistletoe. He sighs softly and eats some of his food even though he wasn't feeling very hungry. Every so often though he would look at Sango and see her still fiddling with the same grain of rice that he had seen her with a long time ago.

Miroku eats a little bit more before stands up and asks Kagome's mother if hey may assist her in the dishes. Kagome's mother thanks Miroku for his help and accepts while Kagome is leaning on the table with one elbow, turned to the side a little in a "Come here" kind of pose and winks playfully at Inuyasha.

Inuyasha however was very nervous and a little scared really from the very odd way that Kagome was acting towards him. All this changes when Kagome's mother says, "Miroku you're so helpful Miroku, you're going to make a good husband someday for her." Which was a slip of the tongue but all action ceased at the table in that moment except for Grandpa who was trying to stay out of it. Sota got up from the table and ran outside to play with Shippou and Kirara who were making snowmen.

Sango was blushing so redly that steam was coming out of her ears for a few moments while her hand that was holding the chopsticks was trembling and a few cracks started to appear upon the chopsticks near the fingers.

Miroku turned to face Kagome's mother and it was enough that out of the corner of his eye that he could see Sango's reaction even as he calmly says, "You're much too kind, you've been such a gracious host. I simply wish to return the favor." Then after a glance at Sango who seemed to have stopped trembling, he says, "I wonder, what did you mean by your earlier statement?"

Kagome's mother smiled and raised her right hand to cover her face for a moment before lowering the hand and saying, "Oh my, I am sorry Miroku. I was just thinking of how cute a couple you and Sango are. I saw how you two were looking at each other during Kagome and Inuyasha's kiss under the mistletoe…"

Miroku was about to say something when Sango became too embarrassed to even think straight and stood up quickly with her eyes tightly shut before shouting, "Just what makes you think I'd even WANT to kiss that lecherous monk under the mistletoe again!" She slams her hands down on the edge of the table, "I can't believe I even thought for a second about it when Kagome and Inuyasha were kissing!" before she comes to the realization that she'd said the whole thing out loud in front of everyone as she opens her eyes!

Sango cries out in fear and embarrassment as she becomes super red and is unable to say another coherent word before she runs out of the room and outside to run as far away as she can and into the trees to hide her. The very LAST thing she wanted at the moment was to face anyone after having just admitted that. She was breathing heavily with a hand over her heart as she thinks about what she'd just admitted in front of Kagome and her family! She couldn't believe she had done that, what was she thinking!

Inuyasha blinks and says, "What was all that about?" as clueless as usual before Kagome stands up and shouts at Miroku, "Go after her Miroku! This is your fault! You should try to fix this!"

Miroku looks at the door that Sango disappeared through and says, "It looks like that she would prefer to be alone to me Kagome." Though he wanted to go to Sango's side and do what he could for her. Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked at the source, which was Kagome's mother and she had a soft, motherly look in her eyes that seemed to say "Don't question, just do what I say." Kagome's mother says to Miroku, "Give her a few minutes Miroku to gather her thoughts, and then I want you to go find her. Trust me on this."

Miroku looked at her for a moment, thinking about what she was saying and thought that perhaps he should take her advice. So after waiting a little while, he walks out the door after her. He wondered how he would find her at first until he noticed her footsteps in the deep snow, so he then started to follow her path up to the trees.

Sango was laying with her back against the tree with her mind going on in a loop about what she should do with what she said back at Kagome's place when she heard the soft, slow sound of someone walking on snow towards her general location.

Sango leaded more against the tree and she wondered who it was that was out seeking her? The first person that came to mind was Kagome, maybe Inuyasha? The very last person in the world that she was expecting suddenly called out in his normal calm voice, "Sango? Are you out there? It is Miroku… I have come to bring you back."

Sango could NOT believe it! She wondered if anyone else was out there and shouted out to him, "Miroku! What are you doing out here? Did anyone else come with you?"

Miroku looks in the direction of the voice and says, "No, only I came out here. Kagome and the others have stayed behind." He continued to walk towards the voice and followed the footprints that were still very visible in the snow.

Sango could hear the footsteps growing closer in the snow and she waited a little until she was fairly certain that he was just on the other side of the tree before she said, "Miroku! Please! Don't come any closer!" and was relieved to hear the footsteps cease and the soft sound of his staff coming to rest in the snow is heard as well. She lets out a relieved sigh and says, "Thank you Miroku."

Miroku's clear and calm voice says in reply, "You're welcome Sango." And for a few moments the silence hangs between the two of them. He wonders who should speak first, him or Sango? His question was answered when Sango softly says, "Miroku? I… I'm sorry about my outburst in the house."

Miroku takes a breath and says, "No need to worry Sango. I am sorry that you were put in such an awkward position. I should have made a point to talk to you sooner about the kiss."

Sango blushes at the mention of the kiss and says, "What was there to talk about Miroku?" and wishes that her heart would stop pounding in her heart even as she waits for Miroku's reply.

Miroku calmly says, "There is much we could talk about, such as how you feel about the kiss. Evidently it has stressed you out more than I thought, and I just want to say I'm sorry if I took advantage of the mistletoe to kiss you."

Sango quietly thinks to herself, "Miroku, you idiot… I'm not upset because of that." Before Miroku continues, "I love you Sango, and I just don't know… It seemed right for us to kiss. I guess it could have been my imagination but I thought I could see it in your eyes that you wanted it as much as I did."

Sango's cheeks seemed to take on a deeper blush as she thought, "He noticed! I did want the kiss as much as he did. So why did I push him away? Could I be in love with Miroku?"

Miroku and Sango didn't know, but Kagome and Inuyasha were watching from the door of Kagome's home a good distance away with Kagome bugging Inuyasha for anything he could hear and given the distance, he could hear the two of them just barely even though he hated eavesdropping. Inuyasha was not telling Kagome everything he heard; just what he thought would get her to leave him alone about it.

Sango softly says to Miroku, "So what if I did Miroku? What difference does that make to you? You try to get every woman you see to bear your child." And then she realizes that her words might sound like they sting more than they were meant to.

Miroku replies as softly to her, "You know my reasons for that Sango, but no matter how beautiful the woman is or how many I ask, it is you and only you that I love. Perhaps sometime… I will find the courage to ask you Sango."

This left Sango puzzled as she wonders, "To ask me what? To bear his child?" Somehow deep inside her, she felt that she would accept but at the same time she also knew that she could never accept until she's found and rescued her brother from Naraku. It would be the only way she could move on and even think about settling down.

Inuyasha heard every word and guessed that this part of the conversation would only be exploited by Kagome by her trying to play matchmaker so he decided not to say anything when she asked if he heard anything else yet.

Sango stood there with her back against the tree, wondering what to say next while Miroku stood so quietly on the other side as he too pondered on what else he could say to her.

**(Feudal Era)**

**(Elder's home)**

Aneko and Koga were sitting in the dining room with everyone else as they kept insisting that they felt fine and didn't want to eat back there. So Midoro consented to let them eat with everyone, which made the two of them happy.

Midoro sat by Aneko with Shippou sitting in front of her with Soten sitting beside him to his right. Koryu was beside Soten and eating his food happily, Ginta and Hakkaku sat across from Koga and eating happily even as the Elder sat at the head of the table while Aoi and Sayo served everyone.

The wolves that made up Koga's pack were eating some meat that Sayo had brought out to them when Koga told his wolves to behave and not attack any humans. Sayo had been a bit nervous at first but then relaxed as she saw them chowing down on the food she had tossed out onto the snow for the wolves.

Soten eats her food while smiling a little at the way Midoro and Shippou get along, because she knew that they hadn't seen each other in many years and yet they were already falling into comfortable family roles of a close mother/son relationship without even seeming to realize it themselves. For a few moments she imagined herself with Shippou and calling Midoro 'Mother' and blushed, hoping that no one else noticed. She picks up her rice bowl and devours her rice to hide her blush until it can fade away.

Shippou says to his older sister, "Are you sure you're feeling ok Sis? You were pretty cold when we all found you." With Aneko nodding and saying, "Yes, I'm fine! It wasn't like I was all by myself you know."

Midoro says with the faintest of smiles on her face, "Yes, I remember… And you two looked so sweet laying together like that, as if you two were already a couple."

Aneko says loudly, "Mother! I can't believe you just said that!" Aneko gets another surprise when Koga wraps his arm around her shoulder and pulls her towards him so that her shoulder rests against his chest, "Don't you worry, I'll take good care of her and protect her always."

Midoro smiles as she says, "Thank you Koga, I know I can trust you to keep your word." And then she picks up her bowl of rice and calmly eats it as if the discussion was ended.

Aneko blushes at the same time as she smiles at Koga's words and stays where she is with her tail swishing lightly over the floor behind her in a happy way. She looks up at his face and sees just how strong he looks and any fears about her nightmare that she felt was in actuality a premonition was quickly forgotten and she lays her head onto his shoulder.

Shippou finishes eating and then says to Soten, "Hey, let's go play in the snow!" Soten grins at him as she puts down her empty bowl and says, "Alright! Let's have a snowball fight then! I bet I can get you more times than me!" Shippou laughs and says, "You're on!" and they both dash out of the room and into the snow.

Koga looks at Aneko as she seems to rest against his chest with a soft smile on her face and just looks at her for a while before Ginta says, "Um… Koga? What about Kagome?" He looks at Ginta with irritation about being interrupted for looking at Aneko before he says, "What about Kagome?"

Ginta says as he looks very nervously, "Um… weren't you going to make Kagome your wife?" He is glad he's sitting out of immediate reach of Koga but is surprised when Koga seems to relax visibly and is very surprised when he says, "Oh that, I've changed my mind. Aneko is going to become my wife, I love her."

Ginta and Hakkaku look at each other in speechless silence before they look at Koga and then notice Aneko is smiling a little more than before with a rosy blush on her cheeks. Midoro puts down her bowl of rice and smiles at the new couple before she says, "I hope you two won't forget to invite everyone who's been here at this house to the wedding."

Koga looks at Midoro and says, "Don't worry, everyone's invited. Even that mutt Inuyasha is invited if he wants to come." Those very words make both Ginta and Hakkaku's jaws drop even further if possible in the shock.

Aneko moves her head up and says, "Thank you Koga, you've made me very happy." And then she leans to give him a soft kiss on the lips, then another, which is followed by a few more, each of them more passionate than the last. It isn't until Koga has fallen backwards onto his back with Aneko kissing him very passionately that the Elder finally coughs loudly, which the two of them take as a clue to break up the kissing.

After sitting back up, it is obvious what the two have in mind, as they can't seem to stop looking at each other even though they try to hide it, but do a very poor job of it. Only a totally oblivious person would not notice and through all this Ginta and Hakkaku were shocked at how quickly things went between the two, which if Shippou had been in the room he would have thought of Inuyasha.

Aneko sits up and blushes with her eyes wandering about the room while Koga tries to look tough and growls, "What is it?" at Ginta and Hakkaku who nervously say "Nothing Koga!" and look to Midoro or the Elder.

The Elder says, "Aneko, I don't care what you and Koga do on your own time but please remember think about the children while you're here." Aneko looks at the Elder in surprise and says, "What children?" with the Elder replying, "Why Shippou and Soten." Which makes her realize that her younger brother is too young to know about such stuff yet and she doesn't want him to learn from her.

Meanwhile out in the yard, Shippou and Soten are working together to build a snowman with them lifting the middle snowball into place. Unaware of what's going on inside the house while everyone else finishes their meal.

**(In Kagraku's room within Naraku's place)**

Kagraku is sitting in the middle of her room alone with her eyes glowing in a very eerie sort of way and frowning. She whispers, "It didn't work… Somehow Kagome's family survived my cold spell." She clenches her right hand tightly and looks like she is about to punch the ground when feels a presence approaching her room. Her eyes return to normal and she stands up to turn towards the door as she awaits for the presence that she sensed to either pass or come to her door with her hand still clenched which she realizes as soon as the person comes to stop in front of her door.

The door slowly slides open and there stands Naraku and he says, "Prepare yourself, you and your sister will be leaving the grounds soon." Kagraku bows a little and says, "As you wish Naraku, where will we be going?" Naraku's icy cold stare is unreadable as always to her even as he says, "I will tell you that when the two of you are ready, until then I will keep the location to myself."

Kagraku fumes angrily within even as she keeps her cool outwardly and says, "Very well Naraku, my sister and I will start preparations immediately. How long of a journey will it be?"

Naraku is quiet for a few moments as if thinking about the answer before he says, "Plan for about three weeks for the two of you. I know that the two of you should be able to be back before then, but you may run into… complications on the way back." He looks at her for a few more moments with the evil gaze in his eyes with a suppressed twinkle that indicates amusement, but about what?

Kagraku watches as Naraku closes her door and turn to tell her sister the same information, nothing more or less even though she walked up to the door to listen in on their conversation. She senses Naraku leaving back the way he came before she can't contain her anger any more and punches hard in the air at the window but to her surprise a bright red flash stops her blast from shattering the window.

Kagraku approaches the window and doesn't notice anything different; she could even put her hand on the window and open it. It isn't until she tries to stick her hand out past the window that the same bright red flash appears and sizzles at her hand. She gasps in surprise at the pain and quickly withdraws her hand. She moves closer and looks at the edge of the window to see that there are some barriers on and outside the window that seem to prevent her from leaving that way. She thinks, "Naraku knows I left! But how!" She fumes and returns to the center of her room, making adjustments in her plans with this new development.

* * *

AN: Sorry this took so long but I haven't been able to sit at my pc and find the time to write much lately. Anyway, I probably won't be writing until AFTER Thursday. Why? Because I'm too hyped up to think or write clearly with Star Wars only 2 days away! (May 17th as of this posting) swings his lightsaber around Besides... with the upcoming battle scenes in my story, I plan to use an idea or two for my story which is going to get as DARK as my previous chapters made you feel all warm, loved, and happy. LOL, I guess Season Finale's for the tv shows are also having their effect on me! Yeah, I know I'm being silly Mikagirl-101. :) 

Anyway, what I've got planned for the next few chapters will have much fear, sadness, anguish, terror, and oh... just everything you can expect to go wrong will go wrong for our friends before things get ANY better. Oh, I might throw a few rays of light here and there... but they'll be small.

Please read and review! Expect more stories soon!


	33. Snow Princess

_**Chapter 32: The Snow Princess**_  
_**Story by Aero Tendo**_

**(Kagome's Time)**

In Kagome's house, it appeared that everyone was waiting on Sango and Miroku's return with only Kagome and Inuyasha at the door trying to eavesdrop on their conversation. It wasn't long though that Kagome's mother had enough and says to her daughter, "Kagome, come away from the door. You too Inuyasha."

Inuyasha looked relieved, as he didn't have to be the eavesdropping on them anymore while Kagome seemed to want to know what was going on with her two friends. She turns to her mother and says, "Mom! Are we going to just let them stay out in the cold?"

Kagome's mother gives Kagome that look that told Kagome "Don't argue with me" whenever Kagome was doing something bad but not quite pushing it to where she would be punished. Kagome's mother says, "They are both quite capable of coming in on their own. Give them their time to talk privately and sort things out." She places a mug on the table which she then fills with hot tea and says, "Now close the door, you're going to let all the heat out of the house and the house has been chilly enough, thank you." With the edge in her voice that told Kagome if she didn't do as her mother said, she would be punished.

Kagome sighs and says, "Come on Inuyasha, lets go back in." and Inuyasha looks a little bit happy and simply says, "Ok Kagome" before he joins her back in the house. With the door shut once again, the house started to warm up slowly.

Grandpa gets up and goes to the bathroom while Sota brings out the small portable TV that since it had been off only needed to be thawed before it could run.

Sota places the TV on the table and plugs it in before turning it on and says, "Look what I found! Our old travel TV, maybe now we can find out more about this crazy weather we had."

Kagome's mother smiles and says, "That's a good idea Sota" which makes him smile as well. Sota then turns on the TV and he has to adjust the antenna as well as the tuner before he can finally get a signal clear enough to see and hear the newscaster woman.

**(Meanwhile out in the forest)**

Miroku and Sango were still standing out there silently before Miroku says, "Sango, perhaps we should continue this inside where it is warmer unless there is more you'd like to say out here?"

Sango bites her lower lip in thought for a few moments and looks straight ahead of her as she tries to think of something to say when suddenly a bird flaps by and uncovers some snow. She frowns a little as she notices that it is unusual and says, "What is that?" walking forward to investigate with her thoughts on Miroku and the kiss forgotten for the moment.

Miroku sees Sango stepping forward out from behind the tree, walking towards something. He wonders what Sango is doing so he uses his eyes to follow the path that Sango looking in and sees the same thing that she has seen. He starts walk towards the mysterious object as well until both Sango and Miroku see a stone object still partially obscured in the snow.

Sango says, "It looks familiar but I can't recall what it is, what do you think it is Miroku?" and uses her hand to start brushing aside the snow covering it to reveal more and more of it until Miroku gasps and grabs her by the wrist suddenly.

Sango hadn't been expecting that and says, "What are you doing Miroku! Let go of me!" before suddenly the conversation comes rushing back at her and she stops struggling, blushing with the thoughts she begins to have which are interrupted by Miroku saying, "Look Sango, this is a cursed object to create very powerful weather, in this case cold. This is why there was so much snow when we arrived." He releases her wrist and says, "I had to stop you because you were about to uncover the final rune that would have started the whole thing up again and frozen the two of us immediately where we stood."

Sango widens her eyes and then recognizes it from her training with her father and says, "This can't be! What is the "Stone of the Snow Princess" doing here in all places? The last time I heard about one of these was that they existed on only the coldest part of the mountain in our time."

Miroku's eyes never waver as he looks at it and says, "I don't know, but I better seal it and we better put snow on it just in case. It seems that when the runes were covered in snow it stopped but the magic was still strong enough to keep it very cold around it."

Sango nods and says, "That makes sense with what I've heard about it. This stone is why that no matter what time of the year it is, that there is snow on the mountain. But what is it doing here? It should be on the mountain, not 50 feet from Kagome's home!"

Miroku places a few seals on it and says, "I agree, we should go back to tell Kagome and the others about this to see if any of them know about this." He then kneels and starts to scoop up snow to place onto the stone. Sango sees what Miroku is doing and starts to do the same and they work together until the object is covered up by snow once again only this time Miroku puts a few broken branches upon it to mark its location. He also uses his finger to draw an extra seal in the snow on the front of it.

Miroku says, "I believe we should go now, I don't believe Kagome and the others knew about this." Sango says, "Let's hurry back Miroku." Before they two of them move quickly through the forest, side by side with only the briefest of glances at the other without the other catching each other until they exit the forest.

Once they exit the forest, they run towards Kagome's house and Sango is he first to reach the door so she opens it with her moving in first followed by Miroku very closely only to see the entire family and Inuyasha looking at a small box on the table with the voice of a woman coming from it.

Inuyasha says, "This box is strange, everything's in black and white." With Sota saying, "That's because it isn't a color TV like the one in the living room Inuyasha." Kagome looks up and notices Sango and Miroku returning and cheerfully says, "Welcome back you two!"

Sango says, "Kagome, you're not going to believe what we found out there!" Kagome says, "I just knew it! You'd find your way to each other! You two are in love aren't you!"

Sango goes beet red while Miroku blushes a bit too, though not as red as Sango does before Sango yells, "Kagome! That's not what we came here to tell you! How could you even say such a thing!"

Sota says, "You guys aren't in love? I thought it was obvious as the snow outside that you two are."

Sango seems to become bright red in her blush and unable to speak. She turns around with her hands covering her face, not realizing that she has turned around in Miroku's direction who sees the bright blush on her face and he smiles for a moment before she looks at him catches a glimpse of the smile on his face. She thinks, "Oh no! Miroku thinks this is funny! Or does he? He told me he loved me out in the forest… Oh, what am I going to do!"

Kagome says, "You guys aren't going to believe this but our weatherman says that there is no reason for the super cold weather we're supposed to be having!" and points at the screen before continuing on, "They are even more puzzled since the cold seems to be originating from near us!"

Miroku steps forward and almost like a shield, he blocks Sango from view from the others at the table as he says, "I am not surprised Kagome. We have found a cursed object in your forest that shouldn't be here."

Kagome says, "What? What did you find Miroku?" Miroku says, "We have found the Stone of the Snow Princess."

Kagome looks puzzled, "What is that? What does it do?" with everyone else turning their attention from the table except Grandpa who says, "I believe I can answer that one Kagome! The stone of the Snow Princess is a horrible stone that is said to freeze many people and create the worse winter weather imaginable. There is even a story behind it, and I'll be happy to tell you about it Kagome."

Miroku says, "Your Grandpa is right Kagome. The stone is the reason for the extreme cold and all the snow that we've been experiencing since coming back. The only reason that it isn't as bad as it could be is because the stone became covered in its own snow."

Grandpa says, "That makes sense with what I heard about it in the story." With Sota then saying, "Wow! You actually know something useful Grandpa!" He yells, "Hey! I know plenty of useful stuff!" To which Inuyasha says in a very low voice, "Yeah, except how to make seals and stuff the right way." He seems to have heard and gives Inuyasha a hard stare.

Kagome's mother says, "Father, please tell us what you know of the story."

Grandpa relaxes and then smiles at her before saying, "Certainly my dear!" He waits until everyone comes closer while Sango shuts the door they'd just come in through before joining in by Miroku's side without even thinking about it.

Grandpa says, "A very long time ago, even for the time Inuyasha comes from there was a beautiful Princess who lived in a castle. She loved the snow very much and had often wished that it could be snow all year round for her instead of just at winter. She would only leave her castle whenever there was snow and so because of this she developed very white and soft skin and her hair became as white as the snow they say. When she became 17 years old a traveling salesman came to the castle having heard about her fascination with the snow but what no one knew was that it was a terrible, evil demon in disguise who wanted to destroy the castle and take over all the lands for his own."

Kagome says, "How horrible!" she is then shushed by Sota and he then says to Kagome, "This story is getting good! Go on Grandpa!"

Grandpa clears his throat while Kagome's mother slides some tea in front of him, he thanks her for the tea and after a quick two sips of the tea he continues his story, "Now where was I? Oh yes… The traveling salesman met the Princess in her room and told her how he had many items and that he was certain that he had something that could please even her. She didn't believe him and told him that unless he had a way for her to be around snow forever that she couldn't believe his claims. The traveling salesman surprised her by saying that he did indeed have such a way for her to do that but that such an item was very rare and very expensive. He also told her that he wasn't quite sure he wanted to give up."

Grandpa stops to drink some more tea before he goes on, "The Princess's greatest desire was before her and she told the traveler that anything that she could give him would be his, all he had to do was name a price. The demon that was in disguise was happy that the Princess had fallen for his trap so easily and decided to have fun with her first so he told her that he would sell it to her if she would meet certain tasks to prove that she was worthy enough to sell to."

Grandpa sips some more tea and then continues, "She told him to tell her the tasks and that they would be done. So the traveling salesman tells her to collect some items, items that he knew would only enhance the cursed item he was going to sell her. She sends her best people out to collect them and within two weeks the demon had the items. The speed had surprised the demon as he had expected them to take much longer. In the two weeks, the demon had gotten to know the Princess and fallen in love with her, he no longer wanted to destroy her but to keep her his forever even though he still wanted her lands. So, with all the items before the demon he told her that there was one final thing that he wanted and then snow would cover her and her lands forever. She was very overjoyed as you can imagine and would have done anything to have it at that point."

Grandpa finishes his tea and waits until Kagome's mother refilled it before he continues his story, "The demon wanted her to marry him and before forever his, and to his surprise and delight she consented. So the two of them married and changed back to his normal demon form to be able to change the conditions of the cursed stone and as he was doing it she caught him and interrupted what he was doing. Somehow they activated the stone's powers, which drew both the Princess and the demon into it, trapping them forever together and freezing the entire castle and all her lands before covering them in snow, which would not stop falling until the stone became covered in snow. The story doesn't end there, years later some travelers went through the lands and discovered it. They didn't know what it was at first but thought the stone might be valuable so they took it and started their journey home and the quickest way to do that was through a path on the mountain. It wasn't until halfway there that the snow had completely melted on the stone and caused it to freeze them and the mountain, forever encasing that mountain in snow even though normally it was too low to ever get much snow."

Grandpa sips his tea while Kagome has tears going down her cheek and says, "How sad… trapped with a demon she doesn't love forever just because she loved snow." While Sota says, "Hey Grandpa, how did you learn about the story?"

Inuyasha grumbles, "I bet he made it up." Even though he'd heard parts of that story before he never had heard all of it.

Grandpa says, "No such thing Inuyasha! I learned about it through one of the scrolls we have here on the property!" Inuyasha makes a low sound but doesn't say anything.

Miroku says, "I too have heard of that story but never with such detail. Would it be possible for me to look at that scroll you mentioned? There might be clues within it on how it came to be here less than 50 feet way from your home."

Grandpa looks shocked and says, "What? It is that close! But that horrible stone could have not only frozen all of us but most of the city as well!"

Kagome's mother says, "I think that's exactly what happened Father, it certainly fits in with the unexplained coldness that was in the news."

Grandpa looks faint as he says, "Then we're very lucky to be here at all! The cold that froze everything was supposed to be very powerful! Kagome could have come back and found nothing but frozen stiffs!"

It was then that everyone realized just how close that Kagome came to losing her family and everyone she cared about with a loud, simultaneous gasp! Kagome got really upset and hugged her mother tightly before reaching out with one arm and grabbing Sota by the shirt and pulling him close before saying, "I could have lost the most important people in the world to me!"

Sota hugged Kagome and his mother while Grandpa gets up and says, "Hey what about me?" but Kagome is crying now against her mother with her mother running a soothing hand over her daughter's head. She runs her other hand over Sota's head and says, "It is all right you two, and everyone is ok."

Inuyasha can't stand to see Kagome crying so he says, "What're you crying about Kagome? Your family is all right and that Snow Princess stone didn't do any harm."

Kagome's mother says, "That isn't the point Inuyasha. And you are wrong, magic stone caused a great deal of trouble for the city and us as well. You saw it on the news yourself."

Kagome looks at Inuyasha and yells, "Don't you care about my family at all?" Inuyasha is flustered and nods as he says, "Of c-course I do! I… just… It is over all right? Everyone is fine and we'll get whoever did this so that they can never threaten you family again! I promise you that Kagome!"

Inuyasha's passionate words surprise everyone including Kagome who had planned on saying "Sit" to make Inuyasha suffer like her but the word stopped at her lips when she heard Inuyasha.

Kagome hugs her mother and cries for a bit more until she finally stops and then walks over to Inuyasha and he wonders if she's going to use the sit command on him but gets a big surprise when she kisses him on the lips tenderly before she leans back with a soft smile and says, "Thank you Inuyasha." She walks away and goes to her room to go lie down since the crying tired her out. Leaving one puzzled Inuyasha even though he was glad she kissed him and didn't use the sit command.

Kagome's mother sees the puzzlement on Inuyasha's face and reaches out to pull him closer so that she can hug him, whispering low enough so that only he could hear, "You told her what she needed to hear. You supported her and defended her family and so she appreciated that." Before she releases Inuyasha, then says to Sota, "You can let go of me now Sota." Who looks up at his mother for a few moments, then after a pause he lets go of her.

**(Later)**

Kagome came out of her room after her nap and saw that her mother was cooking and making some boxed meals as well. She also noticed that Miroku and Sango were discussing something but they stopped as soon as she came out with Sota sitting at the table watching something on TV.

Kagome says, "What's going on?" and walks over to where her mother was and "Are we leaving?" as she notices the food.

Miroku says, "I can answer your question Kagome. After you went to your room, I read the scroll your Grandpa got the story from. After some reading, and talking with the others we have decided that it would be best if the stone returned to our time on the mountain that it came from so that it won't continue to be a danger to your home and city."

Kagome looks around and says, "Where's Inuyasha?" with Sango answering, "He went to get the stone and when he got back we were going to wake you up to let you know what was going on." She says, "He went by himself?" and Kagome's mother says, "Yes, he wanted to keep you safe and he felt that if anything happened he would be the only one who could fight off the cold with his strength and speed to be able to take it down the well before it could harm us."

Kagome walks up to the window and looks out, seeing Inuyasha walking slowly through the snow carefully with it in both his hands. It looked like a snowman with the branches sticking out from it but she also noticed that it had some kind of seal on the front of it and that Inuyasha was being extra careful to keep his hands from it. She sees him stop in front of the well and place it down onto the snow carefully before heading in the direction of the house.

Kagome's mother finishes packing up the boxed meals and says, "I know that this isn't what you expected for your Christmas back home Kagome but I understand that you have to do what you need to do to save everyone." She gives her daughter a big hug before Kagome looks up at her mother and says, "Mom, please… be careful. Whoever did this might try again once they realize that their plan failed."

Kagome's mother runs her hand over Kagome's and gives her a smile before saying, "Don't worry Kagome, Miroku is going to put up stuff that will help keep this place safe." She can see the question in Kagome's eyes and says, "But to be on the safe side we're going to go visit Cousin Seth who lives outside the city for a week." She sees the relief in Kagome's eyes and gives Kagome one more big hug before saying, "Now you better go before your friends leave you behind ok?"

Kagome nods and says, "I love you Mom" just as Inuyasha walks through the door and says, "Hey Kagome! You're awake! Are you ready to go yet?"

Kagome turns to Inuyasha and says, "Not yet, give me a few minutes and then I'll join you ok?" which gets a nod from Inuyasha and Kagome dashes out of the room to quickly gather a few things and to go to the restroom. She returns ten minutes later with her overstuffed backpack and looking more presentable with her hair combed and everything.

Sota waves and says, "Bye Sis! Be careful out there!" and even the cat sitting by him meows as if saying the same thing. He turns to Inuyasha and says, "Hey Inuyasha, keep my sister safe ok?" which gets a knowing nod from Inuyasha as if silently saying, "You bet on it!" Sota then waves to Sango and Miroku, "You two lovebirds watch out for each other!" This causes Sango to blush and walk out the door without a reply even as Miroku says, "I always do" which Sango hears and it makes her pause for a moment in her steps before she continues on.

Kagome's mother says, "Have a safe journey everyone!" and waves to everyone as they walk out with Kagome shouting back, "Bye everyone! Take care of yourselves!" and then she quickens her pace to catch up to Inuyasha and the others before they go where the well is and with a flash of blue light they all disappear.

* * *

AN: Well, this chapter should make most of my Kagraku fans happy. I am sure that most of you know who and why the stone was put there, but how? heh, that's a story that I might explain later. Oh, and as for the mountain that the stone came from? Don't ask, I don't know Japan well enough to be able to say. :) As for the demon? Hmmms, maybe I'll reveal its name later. 

Anyway, please read and review this chapter so I can start working on my NEXT Kagraku chapter:) I usually hold off until I get a review or two before starting on it. Reviews are so inspiring:) Well, take care and as Obi-wan once said, "May the force be with you" :)


	34. Together Again

_**Chapter 33: Together Again  
****Story by Aero Tendo**_

**(Feudal Era)**

Kagome and the others pop out of the well with the stone in snow and a cooler that Kagome's mother had supplied to keep the stone packed in snow and cool for a very long time.

Inuyasha had been puzzled at how anything would keep something cold when it wasn't cold to the touch but Kagome had simply said it was an invention of her time and that seemed to be enough for Inuyasha since there was so much of her world that still puzzled him. He simply carried it over his shoulder while Kagome, Sango and Miroku pick up their stuff before they all head on out.

The small group makes good time as they head towards Shippou's home village through the snow. They stop every so often to check on the snow and the cooler was so good at keeping the cold in they only had to stop once and pack more cold snow in.

When they reach the Elder's home in the village, they are greeted by everyone who is still there with Kagome smiling when she sees Koga with his arm around Aneko's waist and looking proud of it.

Inuyasha says, "Hey Koga, does this mean you're dropping your claim on Kagome?" while standing very close to Kagome as if he didn't trust Koga to not suddenly change his mind and go after Kagome. He relaxed some when Koga says, "You can relax Inuyasha, I have claimed Aneko." And then Koga draws Aneko closer until their hips bump against each other and Aneko blushes softly without her saying anything.

Koga turns his attention to Kagome and says, "Sorry Kagome, I still care about and will always be your friend but I love Aneko now." With Kagome smiling as she says to Koga, "That's ok Koga, I just want the two of you two be very happy"

Koga nods and says, "Oh we will be Kagome, I plan to take very good care of her." Aneko looks at Kagome with some embarrassment but with much more happiness shining in her eyes. Kagome sees and smiles as she wraps her arm around Inuyasha's without even thinking about it as if showing to Aneko that she also understands how she feels.

Aneko gives a soft nod to Kagome and then she looks at Koga, leaning to give him a kiss, which makes Koga blush before he looks at Inuyasha and meets his eyes. The two stare at each other silently, however no words are needed to acknowledge the understanding that is between the two of them. So, now that they both have their own women, the triangle and the feud is over between them and they can be in peace around each other's presence until they do something to get on the other's nerves.

The Elder says, "You're back so soon Kagome, is everything all right?" as he is assisted by Aoi while walking towards everyone.

Kagome says, "We came back early because someone tried to freeze my family with the stone known as the "Snow Princess" and so we're here to return it to its rightful resting place."

The Elder says, "Your family and you are very fortunate indeed to have survived. The stories involving it are very bad indeed. Where is the stone now?"

Inuyasha says, "It is in this magic box with us." And he indicates the ice cooler still resting on his shoulder. Everyone immediately looks nervous and the Elder says, "I see… well, I advise you to return it to where it belongs as quickly as possible before any misfortune sets upon you."

Kagome says, "That's what we intend to do. We just thought we'd see how Koga and Aneko were doing since it was on our way."

Koga says, "As you can see we're doing fine Kagome, but be careful with that thing it has a bad history with it."

Inuyasha says, "Don't worry, I'll protect Kagome and the others from it." Koga takes one look at the confident looking Inuyasha and says, "Maybe I should come to help…" with Inuyasha growling, "I don't need any mangy wolf's help to return a stupid stone back to where it belongs!" Koga growls right back at Inuyasha and says, "Knowing you, you'd just mess things up before you even got there!"

Kagome gets between the two and says, "Break it up you two! Inuyasha! You're still holding the stone and the last thing we need is for you drop it and freeze all of us!"

Inuyasha says, "Bah! I can take that stupid wolf with one hand behind my back." With Koga replying, "Oh yeah! I'd like to see you try you mutt!"

Kagome says, "Inuyasha, put it down!" to which he does and then when it looks like the two are about to get into a fight Kagome says, "SIT BOY!" and Inuyasha whams hard into the wood floor where he weakly says, "What'd you do that for Kagome?"

Kagome ignores him and says to the Elder, "I'm sorry about that, these two have always rubbed each other the wrong way."

The Elder laughs and says, "Don't you worry about it Kagome, even best friends will get on the other's nerves once in a while."

Koga growls, "As if I could ever be friends with that mutt Inuyasha!" with Inuyasha getting up and says, "Yeah, who'd ever want to be friends with such a dirty, mangy wolf." After those words, Kagome says, "Sit boy!" again and Inuyasha slams into the floor once again.

Koga laughs at little before Aneko says, "Koga, please don't fight with Inuyasha right now." And Koga nods to her and says, "All right, anything for you Aneko." Before leaning over and giving her a quick kiss on the lips which they both smile to afterwards.

Shippou says, "When do we leave Kagome?" and Kagome looks at him before she says, "I thought you'd want to stay with your family Shippou, we didn't have plans for you to join us."

Shippou shakes his head and says, "You're my friend Kagome! You might need my help on your journey!" Then before Kagome or anyone can say anything Midoro says, "I'm coming too. I owe you all for taking such good care of Shippou for me and I'd like to do something to repay you all."

Soten says, "Well, if you all of you are going, then I am coming too!" with Kagome smiling at her and says, "Fine by me!"

Aneko doesn't want to leave her mother or younger brother quite yet so she steps forward and says, "I'm coming too! I have the feeling you're going to need all the help you can get." Then all of a sudden she gets a brief flashback of her recent dream and the feeling of impending trouble grows, making her fear about it becoming true start to grow within her heart.

Shippou says, "So where are we all headed?" as he looks up at Kagome and she tells him of that they're headed back to the mountain where it was supposed to rest to return it which ironically was near where they were originally headed before they decided to stop here.

Aneko's blood ran cold when she heard that they were headed right for where she had lived up until recently! Koga detected her change and looks at her, seeing something that looked like fear or nervousness in her but he didn't know why.

The Elder says, "Well if you're going to make it to the mountain before nightfall you better get started right away."

Midoro looks at the Elder and she knew that it'd be dark by the time they reached the base unless they made very good time which she doubted would be possible with the snow and the large group. Still she remained silent because she figured that the Elder was simply very nervous about having the Snow Princess in his village and she couldn't blame him.

So after packing some extra food for all the people who were joining the group and packing some fresh cold snow in the cooler, everyone waved their goodbyes to the Elder and the two girls as they left.

Leading the group was Koga with Aneko by his right side with Ginta, Kaede and Hakkaku trailing behind them and the wolves on the sides of the group as if acting like bodyguards. Inuyasha was carrying the cooler over his shoulder with Kagome just a step or two behind Inuyasha. Sango and Miroku were walking with Midoro as she carried Shippou in her arms who appeared to be happily asleep in her arms and Soten was walking beside her on the left. Kirara was walking alongside Sango with Koryu floating beside Soten's shoulder.

Even with the large group quietly walking through the cold and the snow, everyone made good time.

Aneko pulls back as they get closer and the sun is almost on the horizon until she is beside Kagome and says, "I've been meaning to ask you, why were you heading out this way before you discovered the Snow Princess?"

Kagome smiles brightly, reminding Aneko of they innocence that Shippou has in his own smile before Kagome says, "Oh, that's because we heard that there is some sort of cure-all that might be able to help me."

Aneko looks puzzled at Kagome and says, "If you'll pardon me for saying so Kagome, but you don't look like you need any help."

Miroku walks up behind them and says, "I can explain that. You see a while back a very evil demon named Naraku did something to Kagome that as near as we can tell, has robbed our friend of the other half of her personality. She has for the lack of the better word, the Yin of her soul without the Yang to balance her out."

Aneko frowns a little as she understands and says, "So, you're all on your way to help Kagome get back this missing half of her before she either goes insane or is destroyed?"

Sango says, "Yes, and the only way to do that is to either find and destroy whatever has her other half which is with Naraku and we have no idea where he is or to use the magic cure to restore it somehow."

Midoro feels her shoulders fall as she hears all of it, staying silent because she was afraid that if she told them the truth that they would banish her from the group and not allow her to make it up to Kagome. Soten looks up at Midoro and Shippou and sees the sadness in her face, but she doesn't understand her reasons and says, "Don't worry Midoro, we'll help Kagome and everything will be fine!"

Midoro looks at Soten and gives her a fake smile before saying, "You're right, I'm certain that Kagome will be ok. Thank you Soten for cheering me up." Soten sees the fake smile for what it is but she was going to take what she could get and says, "You're welcome and remember, you're part of our friend and nothing will change that."

Midoro felt a real smile creep onto her face at Soten's words and says, "Thank you Soten, that was very sweet."

Aneko says to Miroku, "Do you know the name of the place you're headed for?" with Miroku replying, "I don't know the name other than it is the spring called the Spark of Life, that we seek."

Aneko hides her surprise on her face even as she realizes where they are headed and that she could help Kagome since she was a member of the guardians for the very spring that they were seeking. She thought about how she owed Kagome and her friends for all the kindness they they've shown her as well as how good they took care of Shippou. She had noticed that he'd grown up well under their care and become a stronger demon than she thought he'd be at his age if he'd lived only in the village.

Aneko says, "I'll do whatever I can to help Kagome recover, but I don't know what I can do to help or how effective I will be." She is surprised when Kagome gives her a sudden and big hug with a smile on her face, "I'm just happy to have you with us! Having you around is like having another sister because Shippou's always been like a little brother to me. You don't need to do anything, just be Shippou's big sister on this journey, that is enough for me."

Kagome releases Aneko and everyone starts to walk again as Aneko says, "I promise you Kagome, to repay my debt to you… I will do whatever I can to help you."

Kagome smiles and says, "Thank you Aneko" before she walks closer to Inuyasha and slips her arm into his, leaning against him with her head on his shoulder which makes Inuyasha blush a little even though he was starting to get used to some of her antics. The closeness of her was something that was taking a little getting used to and so he walks quietly with Kagome looking very happy beside him.

Aneko moves up towards Koga a little lost in her thoughts, wondering what she can do or even say to the others that she knew would be up ahead to even help Kagome. She had no doubt that they were being watched already but she also knew that the guardians wouldn't confront them unless they got too close to the entrance. The path they were on was not one normally traveled but it was the most direct to the mountain from the village that they'd left.

Koga notices that Aneko is thinking about something as she walks up to his side and says, "Is everything all right Aneko?" which snaps her out of her thoughts and she made a decision. She says, "Yes, everything is just fine. I was just thinking about the best way to travel to the mountain since I've been through this area before."

Koga says, "What's the best way to go then Aneko my love?" Aneko doesn't catch it right away and then when she does, she blushes and smiles at Koga before leaning over to kiss him on the lips softly, which makes Koga, give her that smile that just melts her heart.

The group walks towards the mountain following Aneko's directions with them stopping only once to repack more fresh snow into the cooler before continuing on their journey. They reach the foot of the mountain near the secret entrance to where the guardians are and Aneko knew that she could easily tell them where the entrance was but she also knew that they had to place the Snow Princess back in its rightful place as well.

Kaede didn't know what Aneko was thinking and when she saw how close they were to the entrance she walks up to Aneko and whispers, "Are we going take them to the spring?"

Aneko sighs and whispers, "Yes, but I was thinking we should do that after we put the Snow Princess back in her rightful place."

Just then a lot of guardians pop out of the secret entrance as well as from the trees and out of the snow to surround the group. Together Aneko and Kaede say, "Oh… boy, we're in trouble now."

Inuyasha pulls out his sword and stands near Kagome even as she pulls out her bow and arrows, getting one of her arrows ready. Koga moves close to Aneko with a threatening posture towards the circle of guardians. Midoro grabs Soten and moves closer to Inuyasha and Koga with the wolves all growling and snarling fiercely in a protective circle around everyone. Midoro looks at the guardians and promises Shippou and Soten that she will protect them no matter what but even the two kids get ready to throw in their own hand to help their friends and family with Shippou pulling out a top and Soten pulling out a Daruma.

No one moves for the longest time with everyone just watching each other and waiting for the other to make the first move. Aneko and Kaede were thinking about what to do and wondering if they came out unprovoked because they had both run away without telling anyone and if so, then the guardians were there to capture them.

The secret entrance revealed itself totally and stepped out of it were even more guardians with Inuyasha thinking, "How many of them are there?" before he says to Kagome, "Stay back Kagome, I'll protect you!"

Aneko, Kaede, and Midoro couldn't believe their eyes because at the entrance was the Great Negi! The others had no idea who Negi was so they all just assumed that he was the leader of the large group of guardians surrounding them.

Koga and Inuyasha made plans in their heads to get past the large group and get at the leader so that everyone would surrender and they wouldn't have to fight every single guardian but those plans were canceled when Negi shouted clear and loudly to everyone, "Welcome Travelers!"

Everyone was clearly surprised in both groups and they all relaxed their weapons as they looked at each other and at Negi.

During all this some shadowy figures dash through the opening unnoticed, looking only like moving shadows and making no sound at all. The silent figures vanish within the shadows that exist within the place very quickly leaving no sign that they'd been there.

The Great Negi walks up through the group of guardians surrounding everyone and says, "Welcome travelers and friends. I welcome you to our mountain." His eyes look over everyone in Kagome's group and he smiles as his eyes meet with Aneko, Kaede and Midoro. He notices how close Midoro is to Shippou and recognizes her husband's look in the young fox-child.

Miroku says, "We mean you no harm, we were simply traveling to your mountain to return something."

Negi nods to Miroku and says, "Yes, I know… I've been watching you all for quite some time now." Which surprises Miroku and then he says, "Then you will let us go?" with Negi shaking his head, "Not quite yet. I wish to invite you in so that we may all talk. Besides if you try to travel up the mountain in the dark you could hurt yourselves. We have food, warmth and a place for you all to rest inside."

Everyone looks around and the sun was almost completely set at that point. Inuyasha takes a look at Negi, staring right into his eyes before he nods to the others and they all stand down with Inuyasha putting his sword away even though he keeps a ready hand on the hilt.

Turning towards the entrance, they all walk in through the large opening and as they enter through it, Kaede and Aneko look at each other in puzzlement. Neither of them knew that Midoro knew about the place and even she wondered about the friendly greeting from Negi.

Midoro walked closely with Soten and Shippou even as the guardians fanned out as they walked through the base until only a small group of guards walked with them through the guardian's base. Everyone turned their head to look back at the opening, which vanished before their eyes as it magically wavered and appeared to become part of the normal mountain wall and leaving them all for all intents and purposes trapped.

* * *

AN: Well I finally posted my next chapter of Kagraku. Some of you may not remember Negi, and I'm sure I'll be getting questions about WHY he was so friendly. Well to know the answer to that you'll just have to wait and see! - The shadowy figures? Again, you'll have to wait although I'm sure most of you can already guess since I left some pretty broad hints.

Oh, here's a little quiz... what couple has gotten the most kisses so far:)


	35. The Secret of The Guardians

_**Story: Kagraku**_

_**Chapter 34: The Secret of The Guardians  
Story by Aero Tendo**_

**(Feudal Era)**

**(Within the Guardian's Mountain)**

The group that makes up Inuyasha and everyone else slowly walks forward with their honor guard. Everyone but Aneko and Kaede look around in awe since they'd been gone for just a few days so everything was still the same as when they'd left.

Aneko and Kaede both wonder about the warm greeting since it was not usually the nature of the guardians to be so friendly to any outsiders. Only now they were being treated like royalty or even family with the cordial way that they were being escorted through the mountain.

Aneko had to wonder why Negi hadn't simply eliminated her on the spot when they met up again for abandoning the Guardians. She looked nervous and wondered what Negi was planning, for if there was one thing that she had never been able to do was figure him out. He was always an enigma to her and while she had made some strides in figuring him out for most things, there were times when he completely baffled her and this was definitely one of those times.

Kaede looked nervously to Aneko and wondered what Negi was planning as well, she knew him well enough that he wasn't faking the emotions that he had shown. She knew that he seemed to genuinely be pleased to see them, but what she didn't know was why and that question seemed to bother her the most.

Midoro looks about and just had to admire all the impressive changes that had happened since she'd been within the mountain last. She also didn't recognize a single guardian except for Negi within the mountain and she frowned a little as she thought, "What is he up to now?"

Midoro continues to walk and keeps her hand on Shippou's and Soten's shoulders in support to let them know that everything was going to be ok. She was proud of Shippou as he seemed to not be as scared as she thought he would be when facing an unknown enemy and trapped in their base with no visible signs of escape. She smiled a little when she saw Soten trying to act as brave as Shippou was and looking as if she was daring anyone to just try attacking her or Shippou. She imagined that the two would fight back to back if it came to it but she also knew that she would defend the children first to the very end before allowing anything to happen to them even though she felt that they wouldn't get into such a situation within Guardian mountain.

Inuyasha stood close by to Kagome, as he didn't trust the honor guards or this "Negi" person since he didn't know anything about any of them. He kept his hand on his sword while still holding the ice chest with his other hand on his shoulder. Inuyasha felt Kagome put her hand on his sword hand and whisper, "Relax Inuyasha, if they had wanted to attack, they could have done it outside." He looked at her and mulled over what she said and finally relaxed his hand upon the sword's hilt before she took his hand into hers and pulled it towards her with a tender smile at him.

Kagome leans closer until her head is lightly touching Inuyasha's shoulder and pulls his hand closer until she can wrap both her hands around his hand. She loved how big and strong it felt, she could feel the warmth that told her how the blood flowed through his body as he tried to stay alert and ready for the slightest hint of an attack or trap. She trusted Inuyasha with all her heart and her very life, so she knew that he would do anything to ensure that she was safe which made her feel all the more warm and fuzzy towards him.

Kagome tilts her head and kisses him on the cheek and whispers, "I love you Inuyasha" which surprised him because the very last thing he had thought she would do when they were in this kind of situation was to get all mushy on him. Still, her words did have an effect and he looks at her in the eyes to say, "Same here Kagome…" before remembering that there were others around him.

Inuyasha blushes which then makes her giggle softly and softly squeeze his hand in her hands. He didn't have to worry much because everyone was too preoccupied with the Guardians to even notice what had been going on between Inuyasha and Kagome.

Sango and Miroku are walking side by side in a casual, but alert way while looking around as they observe the path that the Guardians were taking them. Both of them wondered about the friendly greeting and wondered if it was a trap but it didn't make any sense to spring a trap after having caught them with overwhelming numbers.

Sango whispers to Miroku, "Hey Miroku, try to behave will you? I don't think any of the people here would find your lecherous ways charming." Miroku looks hurt before saying, "Sango! I am hurt! Surely you don't think I would do anything to put us in jeopardy just to flirt with a girl do you?" Sango gives him a cold look and says, "You have before, and I swear if you do anything this time and someone gets hurt. I'll make you regret it, do I make myself clear?" Miroku gulps softly and says, "Perfectly" and makes a mental note to behave himself while they are in the mountain.

Negi comes to a stop before some large doors and turns around to smile at the group and the honor guard around them before saying, "As I promised, here is the food." Before he pushes the doors easily and quietly, indicating well-oiled hinges to reveal the main food area for the Guardians where there is already a large amount of people eating and chatting which suddenly ceases when Negi and the others come in through the door.

Negi walks in and says in his normal voice, "As you all were." Before the eating and chatting resumes as if there was nothing odd about having Inuyasha's group being lead by their leader. Even Aneko and Kaede were baffled with everything after having both lived here for as long as they had. They both wondered what was going on as Negi lead them in further until they got to the men and women who served the food for the large cafeteria-like room.

Negi waves off the guards and says, "Please, help yourselves to anything you want to eat. We have plenty of food to eat!" He steps aside and says to the servers, "Give them as much of whatever food they want if we have it." Before he then turns and says to Inuyasha's group, "I'll be back after you all have had your fill. I am going to oversee to the preparations for your rooms and then I'll be back."

Everyone looks dumbfounded in Inuyasha's group as Negi walks off and the honor guards go up to the servers after getting a nod from Negi in a silent command that Aneko and Kaede both recognized as "Go ahead."

Inuyasha says to everyone, "What should we do?" before Aneko says, "I think we take him up on his offer." As she walks towards the servers and then she says, "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm hungry." Kaede walks up behind Aneko and says, "I am and if they had wanted to do anything to us, they passed up that opportunity long ago. So until we find out what they want with us, I say we take advantage of their generosity."

Everyone looks at each other and there is awkward silence for a few moments before they all start walking up and getting food for themselves. They walk over to a nearby table and eat their fill, quietly talking every so often about the puzzling guy and what was going on. One thing they all agree on is that the next time they see Negi, they were going to try to get answers.

After about an hour, Negi comes back and everyone in Inuyasha's group gets up with the honor guards as well. Inuyasha says, "Just what is going on here? Why are you treating us all so nicely?" to Negi.

Negi softly smiles and says, "All in good time my friends, I will give you the all the answers that you seek in due time. But first I want to show you all to where you'll be resting and then we will all talk."

Inuyasha looks like he wants to say something more but a touch from Kagome stops him and she says, "Ok, at least tell us your name." Negi laughs and says, "Oh, that is right I forgot to introduce myself didn't I? Well, I can fix that right now. I am Negi but otherwise known as The Great Negi because I am the leader of the Guardians in this mountain."

Almost everyone looks at each other before Inuyasha says, "You are the Guardians of the Spring of Life?" Everyone looks at Negi for his answer, even those who know the answer just to see what he'll say.

Negi smiles just a tiny bit more and says, "That answer will have to wait until later when it is the right time. So, if you'll all follow me now I will show you to your rooms."

Negi turns to walk through the doors and everyone just follows, knowing that they won't get any answers out of him unless he wants to give them. Negi leads the group down some more corridors with Inuyasha and the honor guards following him until he stops outside a door that Aneko and Kaede were puzzled about for they knew that the room had never been used for as long as either one of them had lived there.

Negi pushes the door open and within is a lavishly done room and everyone except the honor guards and Negi gasp at how incredible it looked! Negi chuckles as he notices the reaction from everyone and says, "This will be the room for the women."

Aneko and Kaede could not believe their eyes! The room was elegant enough for royalty! They both wondered what Negi was doing giving them such an elegant room! Kagome was just overwhelmed and she looked at Negi before she ran up to him and says, "This is just too much! You're treating us like royalty!" which echoed the thoughts of just about everyone in her group.

Negi chuckles again and says, "Don't worry about it, this is a room I choose to honor you travelers. But as you saw earlier, we have many Guardians in this mountain so rooms aren't exactly going to be plentiful here."

Aneko and Kaede both knew that there were plenty of empty normal rooms for new Guardians. Even if there weren't any, it would not have taken them any time to dig out a new room with the tools that they had available. They didn't know what Negi was thinking so they decided to hold their tongue until questions could be asked in private.

Midoro looked at the room and thought to herself, "This room looks familiar, I wonder…" before Negi then claps his hands together, "Now if the rest of you will please follow me, I will show you where the men will be staying."

Negi doesn't go very far before he comes to stop at another room where the doors look similar to the one for the girls, only with different sketching around the frame. He pushes the door open and says, "This will be where the rest of you will be staying." The room reveals a large and just as lavishly done room with decorations obviously more aimed for the guys.

Everyone in the group turns to look at Negi with confusion upon their faces as they wonder what they could have done to deserve such grand rooms. Negi just smiles at them and says, "Well, I trust you all enjoy your rooms. Now, if you will follow me to another room, I will be more than happy to answer any and all of your questions there."

Negi starts to walk again from the rooms with everyone following in silence from the shock of their incredible rooms. He leads everyone into a room at the end of the corridor that is as impressive as their bedrooms but different because it looked more like a room that one would host the rich or royal people.

Negi walks in with Inuyasha's group following him into the room. The honor guard group stops at just inside the door and they go no further even as Negi leads them deeper in.

Everyone looks around the room as they follow him deeper into the room, looking at very impressive columns that had carvings of fox demons on each of them that went from near the base of it all the way to near the top of it where the ceiling was.

Miroku stops at one of the carvings and notices the date at the bottom of it before he rubs his hand along his chin in thought. Sango grabs his arm and says, "Come on Miroku, we don't want to fall behind!" He says, "Ok Sango" and walking quickly they both catch up with the rest of the group.

Once they reach the end of the long, fancy room Negi turns and invites everyone to sit down so that they can all begin. After everyone is seated Negi looks over everyone and says, "Are there any questions now?"

Inuyasha says, "Yeah, I've got one. Why have you been treating us so nicely ever since we got here?" To which Negi smiles and says, "Because you are our honored guests, that's why. Next question?"

Kagome says, "Are you the Guardians of that magic water?" Negi nods and says, "Yes we are, and we shall always do our very best to protect it until the end of time."

Sango says, "How long are you planning on keeping us here as your guests?" Negi smiles a little more before laughing and saying, "You are here as guests, and as such you can all leave any time you like. We are not going to force you to stay against your will."

Miroku says, "Tell me, are the carvings that we walked past on our way to here all fox demon leaders or demon royalty?" Negi's smile seems to almost vanish at the question as he was quite surprised by the question before he says, "My, my, you are a perceptive one aren't you Monk?"

Miroku nods and says, "I noticed that there were writings related to the dates when they ruled and to the name of the family." Negi says, "To answer your question Monk, the carvings are of our past honored rulers and leaders. We've been at this for a very, very long time and so we have quite the history here."

Aneko says, "Does this have anything to do with why we are being treated so well?" Negi turns his head to look Aneko and chuckles, "Yes, in a way it does."

Shippou says, "Does it have something to do with all the fox demon carvings?" Negi looks at Shippou and nods before he says, "Indeed it does my little fox child." To which Shippou says, "My name's Shippou!" and Negi then says, "I am sorry, I assure you I meant no offense Shippou." Shippou seems to accept the apology before he settles down.

Miroku had been watching and listening to everything before he says, "Excuse me, but are one or more of the fox demons that are traveling with us related to you?"

Negi turns to look at Miroku in surprise again and then after he stares at him through squinted eyes, he tilts his head back and laughs loudly. He manages to stop laughing after a while and says, "I can see that nothing gets by you Miroku!"

Inuyasha growls and says, "What is it that you think Miroku has figured out?" Negi looks to Inuyasha and he grins, "Oh, to answer both your questions, I believe that Miroku has figured out that one of the reasons for us treating you all so well is because that someone in your group is related to me. Although that is not the total answer as to while we are treating you all so well."

Miroku says, "More than one of our group is related isn't that right?" to which Negi turns his attention back to Miroku and softly smiles, "I can see that very little will get past you Monk." He rests his hands upon the table and says, "Yes, you are quite correct. I would wager that you have already figured out who too from the questions you've been asking."

Almost everyone turns their head to Miroku before Inuyasha says, "What's going on Miroku? What have you figured out?" Kagome leans forward and says, "Come on Miroku, you can tell us!" Even Sango says, "Spill it Miroku, don't keep up all in suspense!"

Miroku turns his head to look at Midoro and says, "I believe the answer lies with her. Do you want to share with us the secret of why you were one of the carvings?"

Shippou looks at Midoro and says, "Mom? What does Miroku mean? Why would you be one of the carvings?"

Koga thinks to himself, "I wonder if…" before he turns his attention to what Negi has to say.

Midoro looks a bit uncomfortable before she looks at Negi as if silently asking for his help but all he does is just give her a sly smile and then nods as if saying to her, "Go ahead, tell them." She slowly takes a deep breath with everyone watching her and she says, "Because Shippou, I am one of the royal members of the fox clan for the Guardians."

Everyone is totally shocked and those who had been leaning in some way, fell from the surprise. Shippou's jaw seemed to have hit the ground and says, "Does this… make me royalty too?" and when his mother softly nods he smiles and starts to dance excitedly before he yells, "Yippee!"

Inuyasha grabs Shippou and pulls him back down, "Calm down Shippou, there's got to be more to this story than meets the eye!" Shippou grumbles and crosses his eyes before he looks back at his mother.

Aneko was shocked into silence at the news about her mother! She simply could NOT believe it! She was part of royalty? How did this happen? Why had they lived in a simple village then? So many questions flooded her mind while Kaede watched her friend with a hundred questions of her own flowing through her mind.

Koga looks at Aneko and wonders what he can do for her, so he leaves her to her thoughts and puts a supporting hand on her shoulder to which she leans into a little. Hakkaku and Ginta simply look at each other, wondering what they should do with this new info.

Kagome says, "Midoro? What are you? Are you like a princess or something? Is that why we're getting treated so well?"

Before Midoro can answer Negi says, "She is the rightful heiress and Queen of the Guardians as the way things stand right now. As her friends, that makes you all very important guests to us."

Midoro looks surprised and says, "What about…?" her question trailing off as Negi shakes his head, "Sorry, but your sister was slain by a powerful demon defending an attempt when he tried to gain access to the mountain. We repelled him successfully but not without great cost."

Midoro's eyes tear up before they run down her cheeks to become tears that fall to the table before her, "I should have been here…"

Negi shakes his head, "There wasn't anything you could have done if you'd been there, and we never did learn his name only that he wasn't from around this area. He also traveled with two other powerful demons and a human."

Midoro slams her hands on the table before her hard enough to crack the wood and makes everyone jump from it. She says, "I'll make that demon pay for what he did to my sister!"

Negi nods and says, "As would I, but that will have to wait for now since it is a joyous time to once again have royalty among us."

Aneko looks at Negi and says, "Wait a second! If my mother is Queen, then didn't that make me a princess? Why was I never told?"

Negi sighs and says, "Because, when your mother left her sister in charge she made her promise that her children, which would be you and Shippou, that would never find out about the royal heritage unless it was necessary or if both her and your mother were dead. As you can see, your mother is very much alive."

Both Aneko and Shippou look to their mother before Shippou says, "Mom, why did you leave this place?" with Aneko saying, "And why did you leave your family for so long?"

Negi could see on Midoro's face that her children's questions were a bit too much, too fast for her so he says, "Children, I'm sure your mother had her reasons for leaving the family but I can answer why she left here." He gets the notice of everyone at the table and sees in Midoro's eyes a "Thank you" to which he barely nods as a "Anytime" before he says, "You see, Midoro left a long time ago to marry your father children. It was a part of our laws back then, that those of royal blood could marry only those within mountain or another demon of high standing."

Negi pauses to let it sink in before he continues by saying, "Your father was neither, for she had met him one day while she was outside the mountain and fallen in love with him. Now, I don't know the full details but the way I understand it, your aunt and mother talked things over and she left your aunt in charge while she went off with your father. It was the only way she could legally be with your father."

Aneko says, "How come you're running things if my aunt is no longer around? Why didn't they come find us afterwards?"

Negi nods to Aneko and says, "Because I married her before it happened and as your uncle it came to me to be in charge. I honored the wishes of your mother and my dear wife to not get you children involved." He bows his head forward as in remembrance to his wife before he raises his head up and says, "Anyway, now that you are all here together, there is no reason not to tell."

Midoro says, "I don't understand, how have the circumstances changed? I am still alive and there is still someone in charge of the place."

Negi says, "As you know, the law that prevented you from marrying outsiders and lower-class demons was the main reason for you leaving. Your sister and I have since changed that law, as it was unfair and hoped it would one day allow you and your family to come back to us." He reaches out and puts his hand upon Midoro's hand and says, "When I heard about what happened to your husband and son, I was very sad and thought that only Aneko was the only living one of the royal blood line. Still, I knew I would have done the same as she did so I did not stop her from leaving."

Aneko knew then that she had been busted as everyone turned to look at her then, she felt even the questioning eyes from her mother. Kaede knew how she must be feeling so she brings a hand to Aneko's shoulder and says to everyone, "Yes, it is true. Aneko and I were both members of the Guardians until she heard about Shippou and her father being destroyed by some thunder demons. We left to go pay respects to where at the time, we thought Shippou and her father had fallen."

Soten looks a bit uncomfortable since only Midoro and Inuyasha's group knew of her relations to the thunder demons that had slain Shippou's father. She squirms and wonders if she should mention it or stay silent. She decided to remain silent and let the others say something if they felt it was the right thing to do.

Kaede continues to say, "As you all know, we eventually ran into all of you and I know how happy we both were to discover not only that her younger brother was alive and healthy but her mother." She looks at Midoro and says, "I was very surprised to see you alive because you disappeared from the village so long ago and everyone thought you had been destroyed by another demon or a demon slayer, but no one knew for sure."

Midoro just looks back at Kaede as if just waiting for the question that she knew was sure to come next and is surprised when Kaede instead turns to Negi to say, "Did you know that her mother was still alive?"

Negi looks at her and says, "I thought she was, but I wasn't certain. I had heard of rumors of her being spotted here and there. Until I knew for certain about her fate either way, I decided to listen and if the rumors had ever stopped or mentioned her final fate, then I would have told Aneko the truth."

Kaede looks back to Aneko who was looking at her family. She wondered what her best friend was thinking about and then she looked at the way she was looking at her mother and younger brother. She thought about it and guessed she had some inkling.

Aneko looked at her mother who she had just found out could be the Queen if she wanted the position and she didn't then the roll might fall upon her and she didn't know if she wanted to be the Queen of the Guardians. She looked at her younger brother and knew from the short time that she'd spent with him that he was a young, honorable fox with a touch of a budding warrior within and she had no doubt that he would not only stand up to the daunting task of leading the people but he would become a strong and kind leader. She still didn't want to put it upon his shoulders because of his age and knew that if it came down to it, she would accept it.

Inuyasha had sat through all of this with his arms crossed as was his customary style and listened to it all before he says, "So, you're looking for someone to take over because you couldn't handle it." Kagome says, "Inuyasha!" before Negi holds up his hand and says, "No, no, it is alright. In a way, he is right. I have ruled far too long the Guardians without my wife and it is very lonely. But that is not the only reason why I wish to step down."

Midoro's interest was piqued and she says, "What is the reason then?" before Soten leans over to whisper, "Hey Shippou, if you're a prince… can I be your princess?" which makes Shippou blush red and he is left speechless so he tries to ignore her question by paying attention to the answer from Negi. Shippou however doesn't exactly move away from her and Soten takes this as positive note so she scoots closer without touching him and with a soft smile on her face.

Negi says, "The reason I wish to step down is a matter that I don't wish to discuss at the moment but I will tell you this. The future is a dark one and I don't think I am strong as my wife was to be able to deal with it." He looks at Midoro to say, "I believe you are as strong as your sister, and so I would like to ask you if you will accept being Queen of the Guardians."

Midoro looks like she is in thought as she looks at Negi and says, "I will need more than a cryptic response and a vision before I decide if I will resume my duties as the head of the Guardians."

Negi nods to her and says, "I can understand that, but for now that is all I can offer you. I don't wish bother these young ones with all the troubles of the Guardians."

Shippou looked pretty tired and he yawned while Soten leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder before closing her eyes. Shippou tilted his head to lay onto hers and they both fell asleep like that.

Inuyasha says, "I don't really care about your troubles old man, all I care about is getting some of that magic water that you have to cure Kagome with! So, can we get some or what?"

Kagome says, "Inuyasha! There's no reason to be rude! I can wait until we help them with their troubles."

Negi shakes his head, "Don't worry Kagome, there is no reason to bother yourself with our troubles. However, it is not usually our custom to allow outsiders access to the magical water."

Negi raises a hand up to silence any protests and says, "Since you are visiting as honored guests of the royal family, I think we can make an exception. The hour grows late though and I think it would be best if we all retire until tomorrow and then we can discuss things further." His gaze moves to where the sleeping Shippou and Soten are before the others look at the children, quietly everyone agrees that it is late so with low voices, they agree to resume tomorrow.

Midoro gently picks up Shippou while Aneko picks up Soten and they all leave the large room while no one seems to notice that there were two figures hiding in the shadows, watching them with glowing eyes.

Negi and the honor guards walk down the corridor with everyone and Midoro hands Shippou to Miroku gently before she softly whispers to him, "Please take care of Shippou, will you Miroku?" She brushes her fingers through his as she whisper it and looks at Shippou with a mother's love.

Miroku nods and says, "I shall do my best Midoro." And turns to walk into the room assigned to the men of the group. Inuyasha follows Miroku into the room, looking a bit unhappy that they can't help Kagome right away but he understands that he has to behave in order to help Kagome. Koga, who had been silent through all of this simply walks in with his men and following and it isn't long before they all find a spot to fall asleep quickly.

A couple of the honor guards stand outside their room while the rest follow Negi and the women to their room. Kagome hugs Negi and says, "Thank you for everything." With a smile before she turns and walks into the bedroom with Sango, Aneko still carrying Soten following into the room.

Negi walks away with only two guards following him and the rest of the honor guards stand outside the bedrooms, leaving Negi to the privacy of his thoughts. He wonders if Midoro would really take up the job if she knew that he wasn't going to be around for much longer anyway? He softly sighs and walks to his bedroom where the guards stop outside and stand at attention there.

* * *

AN: Well everyone this is my LONGEST chapter to date for ANY story that I've written and posted at this site. This is in honor of my story reaching over 100 reviews! YAY! Thanks everyone for making this story such a joy to write and please keep the reviews, fav's and stuff coming:) This extra-long chapter is my way of saying thanks for sticking with my story so far!  
Were you all surprised to find out that Shippou and his family are from royal fox demons? I'll leave the story of how Midoro and her husband met up, fell in love for another time. I might get back into it sooner if I get reviews asking for it.  
The mysterious figures are going to cause major havok in the next episode! Just you wait:) 


	36. Kagraku Strikes! Chaos Reigns!

_**Chapter 35: Kagraku Strikes! Chaos Reigns!**_

_Story by Aero Tendo_

**(Feudal Era)**

Aneko was having a restless sleep as she twisted and turned in her bed. No matter how she moved she couldn't get comfortable, she kept replaying the nightmare that she had in her head. She was unable to see who the figure in the shadow was every time and that part bothered her the most. She knew it was someone important to her and she desperately wanted to find out but she also knew that a part of her was holding herself back as if afraid that she wouldn't like the answer.

Kagome was trying to sleep but every time Aneko moved about noisily or would mumble something in her sleep, she would wake up just a little. It had been some time since she had fallen asleep with Inuyasha not so close to her. She was missing his presence even though she knew that he was just down the hallway with guards standing outside her door. Still, she felt uneasy because of a sixth sense that told her that she was anything but safe which she couldn't understand and tried to shrug it off but Aneko's restlessness made it difficult.

Sango was a light sleeper but she'd also been beside restless sleepers as well so she was able to get more rest. She felt safe in the knowledge that Kirara was sleeping beside her as well as the fact that she had guards outside her room. A part of her remained alert due to her demon fighting training and so she would hear Aneko's mumbling every so often, which sounded more and more like a vision as she listened since she was the closest to Aneko.

Midoro was sleeping the deepest sleep of all the women in the room as she had been the most tired from the entire journey. However, it wasn't to last long as something prickled at her senses, a kind sixth sense that she shared much like her daughter's but without the vision. She suddenly sits up, fully away when the sense goes from being a mild feeling to one that screamed at her and she opens her eyes widely, scanning the room for the cause of the feeling.

The other three girls wake up in a semi-groggy state since they heard Midoro and saw that she was getting to her feet with a cautious stance to her. Kagome says, "What is it Midoro?" before she gets shushed with a finger to Midoro's lips and hears her say in a soft whisper, "Something's wrong… I can sense it."

Midoro walks up to the door and presses an ear to it before she frowns. She quickly and silently moves back towards the others and whispers, "Everyone, get up. The guards aren't at the door anymore."

Kagome says, "Maybe they went to the bathroom?" in a kind of hopeful tone even though she knew that wouldn't be the case. Midoro shakes her head side to side before whispering, "They would have left only if they'd been relieved by others, and they haven't. There's serious trouble if they're gone."

Aneko and the others get dressed quickly before they get their weapons out and approach the door. No one quite knew what to expect as they approached the door but everyone was ready for anything.

Midoro opens the door just a hair and peeks out to see that the guards in front of their room and the guy's were both missing. There were signs of blood drops on the floor but no signs of the bodies and this concerned her greatly.

Kagome leans forward and tries to look for herself but Midoro stops her with a gentle touch to her shoulder without even looking at her before she shakes her head. Midoro sees the door where Inuyasha and the others crack open just a hair as well to see what is going on.

As if on some silently agreed timing both Midoro and Miroku open their doors quickly and move quickly into the hallway, ready for anything but they don't see anything even then. Moving quickly and silently, the others pile out into the hallway to look down both ways.

Inuyasha had his sword drawn and was looking both ways until Kagome gives a brief cry when she is startled by a drop of something that lands on the back of her neck. Inuyasha moves over to her in a quick move and says, "Are you ok Kagome?"

Kagome nods her head and says, "Yeah, I just felt something wet land on my neck and it startled me." She brings back her hand from where she had felt the wetness and her eyes go wide. She says, "Inuyasha! Look! It is blood!"

At this point everyone has joined up and they look at the blood on her fingers before Kagome looks up and her eyes go wide again. On the ceiling, high up were the remains of their guards. Only all that could be seen was the remains of blood-stained clothes sticking to the ceiling and what looked like a splattered outline of what was once their body but it was not hard to recognize the shape of the fox-demon that they once were.

Kagome whispers, "Who could have done this? Why did they do this?" before Miroku says, "I don't know Kagome, but I think we should get moving. Who or whatever did this might still be around."

Inuyasha growls softly and moves closer to Kagome before he says, "Kagome, keep close to me. I'll protect you." Kagome nods as she keeps her fingers on the bow and arrows, staying ready for anything. She didn't want to wind up as nothing more than a smear on the ceiling so she kept looking around all over, from the ground to the ceiling and hoping that she wouldn't find any more strange bodies.

They went back towards the way that they'd come and it remained very quiet, too quiet for their tastes after having just seen what happened to their guards. No one said a thing, everyone reached out with their senses, trying to pick up on whatever had done this with no luck. It isn't until they reach a point where they were almost back to the cafeteria when Aneko says something.

Aneko says, "This is strange… no matter the hour, this place should be far more busy than this. We should be able to hear talking coming from the cafeteria by now but it is quiet right now."

Everyone looks at her and then they make their way to the cafeteria where the doors are closed but before they push the doors open, Inuyasha says, "I can smell blood…" Koga says, "Yeah, a lot of fresh blood too." Together Inuyasha and Koga touch the door and can feel the blood leaking from slit in the door. They stop and with a silent nod, they both smash into the doors to send them flying open.

The sight that greeted them was horrible! The floor, once so clean now was covered in a thin layer of blood everywhere and again, the bodies were gone, leaving only their clothes and blood splattered remains everywhere! There were signs of a struggle as apparently it hadn't happened all at once since there were weapons either embedded in the walls, floor or tables beside the splattered body remains.

Kagome says, "This… this is… horrible! Who or what could have done this?" while Midoro covers the eyes of Soten and Shippou but not before they all get a chance to see the horrible sight when the doors were kicked open.

Inuyasha growls, "There is so much blood here I can't pick up the scent of their attacker." Even Koga growls as he keeps close to Aneko, "Same here Inuyasha, but the blood looks fresh so they can't be too far off. I suggest we keep moving."

Everyone agrees that this would be the most wisest choice of action, and so with Miroku doing some quick rites for everyone before they go. They all head on down the path they'd taken earlier with everyone quiet as the area around them.

Suddenly, a wall explodes up ahead of them with foxfire flicking out of the hole before it flickers away and sounds of a fight could be heard! Everyone makes a mad dash towards the hole to see what is going on.

What greeted them was something right out of Aneko's nightmarish vision. She watches as her friends dash through the hole while she feels paralyzed, unable to move from the spot even as they disappear from her sight. Aneko can only move once they are gone from her sight and even then she feels sluggish, like she was trying to fight to a thick tar or something like it.

The lighting was very poor with fires dancing everywhere, some caused by candles falling to the floor, and some others caused by foxfire. Aneko walks forward as if she was sleepwalking and sees a few friends that she had trained and fought with on many occasion laying about either injured or worse. She continues forward and pauses as she sees a few bloody smears on the wall with only the clothes remaining and the blood was pooling at the floor from the wall and stretching out very slowly into a wider pool that would connect with other bloody pools already on the ground.

Aneko walks forward and she could catch glimpses of her friends, old and new fighting through the chaos. The fires danced under all the action, the wind caused by their moving about made it seem even all the more chaotic. She could see how the shadows danced, sometimes taunting her with almost being able to identify a friend that was injured or slain.

Aneko was afraid to approach any of the shadows because of the way her dream kept ending right when she would stick her hand into the shadow. She heard a few of the injured call out to her, but many of them were in dark shadows and even though she recognized their voices she felt that she couldn't help them.

Aneko does stop eventually at one who was half-illuminated by the fires near him and he is in pretty bad shape. He can barely focus on her and mostly calls out for help without even knowing that she is near. Of what she could see by the poor fire's illumination, there was no reason for him to be suffering because all she could see was his face, half lit up with the other half in a dark shadow. His body is shown much the same way with the other half in the darkness.

Aneko says as she recognizes him, "Hey there, are you ok? What's wrong?" before she reaches out and tries to move him into the light to get a better look at him. She feels her hand touch something very soft, very wet when she tries to grab him by the shoulder in the dark shadows. She ignores the feeling and pulls him further into the shadow before she gasps in shock and lets go!

The guy falls into the light from the waist up, that is… if he HAD much of a waist. Aneko trembles a bit as she couldn't believe her eyes! The guy had become almost literally a bloody pulp on more than half of his body!

His face was almost half-gone, all she could see was blood and tissue, for even his hair and ear was gone on that side of him! His mouth was half curled into a bloody mess, which he tried to move to talk, to say something to her.

Aneko couldn't move as her eyes took in the rest of him, the part that had been in darkness and the reason for the soft, wet feeling at the shoulder was because that part was gone! She couldn't even see any signs of bone in that area, for it seemed as if it been reduced to dust!

For Aneko, it was all she could do to look at the bloody mess and wonder just HOW he was even still alive at that point! She could see down to where his hip was and saw that it too was as bloody and soft looking as what his shoulder was like! His leg apparently had faired better since she could see that all he had was a broken leg but the clothes and skin that was covering it gave the impression that it had been ripped right off of him in the most painful way!

Aneko finally began to understand what was going on to him on some level as she watched him and it seemed to take all of his remaining strength to say to her, "R-run… get away from this h-h-hell… don't let the two girls… get you…" before he closed his one remaining eye since his other was part of the bloody pulp mess that made up his face and he stopped breathing.

Aneko's mind was reeling as she thought about what he had said to her. She thought, "Two girls did ALL THIS? Caused all this destruction? What kind of monsters are they?" Her hands shivered as she looked at the hand that had touched him which was all covered in his blood, which she quickly wiped up before standing up.

She stood up and was feeling more alert, less sluggish but still feeling as if she was in a horrible nightmare somehow. She so wanted this to be a dream that she could wake up from and have Koga hold her, to tell her that everything was all right. She even closed her eyes for a few moments as she wished that she could wake up right there and then, only to open her eyes to see the guy still becoming more pulpy until on the side that was destroyed until it finally collapses under the weight and becomes a bloody stain on the ground.

Aneko walked quickly away from the sight and her instincts were screaming at her to find someplace safe, to follow his last instructions and get out of that place very quickly! She continued to walk quickly until she slowed down as the area became more and more like the one in her nightmarish vision.

The hair on the back of her neck becomes prickly, standing on end even under the hair from her head, which came down to her mid-back. She gulps as she looks where she knew she didn't want to look and hears a loud crash that causes her to turn her head anyway to look at the destroyed wall.

Aneko saw that the wall had been knocked down and through it she saw old and new friends fighting some figures, that because of the darkness and the fire that just barely illuminated anything, she could see that it was two figures and what made her go cold were the two pairs of glowing eyes that looked right at her just like she had seen within her vision dream.

Time seemed to stretch forever in the time that she had seen their eyes looking at her and she thought of what had happened to that guy before, she was terrified that they would make her become another bloody stain on the wall. She thought about Koga and wished with all her heart for him to save her, as she was too scared to even move or even breath at that moment.

The moment passed just like in her vision dream when they had to look away as they were attacked and driven back by her friends. She almost fell to her knees in the relief that she felt when the two figures were gone, but even from the distance that she was, she could feel the cold, piercing gaze as if she was worth less than nothing in their eyes. She thought for a second as her mind cleared of its numbness that she could make out that their figures were indeed female, like that of teenage girls no older than herself.

Aneko walks forward to see if the rest of her vision dream was real as well and comes where she sees a person laying in the shadows just like what she had seen. She pauses and wonders if she should continue, will it be another person much like the guy she tried to help? Or will it be someone else that she could help?

Aneko pauses and after a few moments of battling with herself, she decides that the risk was worth it if she could help an injured person within this horrible destruction of the places he had called home to for so long, she felt she owed that much at least.

She slowly approaches the shadow-covered person and fails to notice someone approaching her as all her senses were turned towards the person in the shadow. The person approaches her and just as her fingertips touch the dark shadow, she feels a hand touch her on the shoulder!

She cries out loudly and whips towards the source of her hand with a foxfire punch which misses its target which is good for her because the next thing she hears before her eyes focus is a strong voice saying, "Hey there! Calm down! It is just me, Koga!"

Aneko focuses her eyes on Koga and is very happy, more happy than she was to ever see anyone in her life! She cries out, "Koga! I am so glad that you're ok!" and leaps at him to wrap her arms around his shoulders in a tight hug before she starts to kiss him all over the face as she tells him how happy that he is ok between kisses.

Koga is surprised by the sudden onslaught of affection from Aneko when he'd been fighting two incredibly powerful people. He had never seen such power in what he thought were just humans, but they had powers that he had seen in only the most powerful of demons in his lifetime but even they hadn't been anywhere as vicious and bloodthirsty as those powerful demons.

Koga eventually pushes Aneko back and says, "Are you ok? You aren't hurt are you?" She shakes her head and leans against him, not saying another word while Koga says, "You must have had a pretty bad scare, did you see the two human girls come through here?"

Aneko jolts backwards as if she'd been shocked and says, "They're HUMAN? I saw two girls but they were in the shadows and all I could see were their glowing eyes." She softens her voice, as she looks downward, "Their eyes were so cold, so piercing… I knew that they didn't value life at all from the way they looked at me. I am just glad that some others came and attacked them, driving them away from here."

Koga says, "Yeah, I couldn't believe that two human girls could cause this much destruction all by themselves." Aneko looks at Koga with even more shock and says, "Only two human girls are doing all this? Causing this much destruction?"

Koga nods and says, "Yeah, I couldn't believe it myself at first but when I saw them turn a Guardian into a blood splatter before my very eyes, I knew it couldn't have been anyone but those two."

Aneko looks at Koga and says, "You didn't get hurt did you?" while her eyes roamed over his body, looking for any part that was turning into pulp and was relieved when she saw that there wasn't any part like that.

Koga shakes his head, "No, and as far as I know everyone else is doing just fine as well. We've all been putting up a pretty good fight against them and we should be able to drive them out but I think the cost is going to be very high unless we can get them out quickly."

Aneko clenches her hands tightly enough for her claws to break skin, making blood leak onto the already bloody floor at her feet before she looks at Koga and says, "Then let's go and drive these monsters from here!"

Koga nods and says, "Let's go then Aneko, lets make them regret ever coming here!" He gets a sharp nod from Aneko and she grabs his hand before pulling him in the direction where she'd last seen the eyes before saying, "With you and me working together, we'll drive them out in no time my love!"

Koga smiles at her saying that to him before he starts to run alongside her, and with their combined powers and speed they catch up to the fight against the two human girls, even though as they ran, Koga knew that no matter where he goes, he'll have Aneko by his side.

* * *

**AN:** Well, sorry it took so long but you have to admit that it was worth the wait! Aneko's dream vision came true and for all you Koga fans, I bet you are all relieved that his was the hand that grabbed her shoulder:) You'll just have to wait until NEXT chapter to find out if they managed to drive out Kagraku and her sister or not. This was mostly an Aneko chapter for the most part since it was from her dream vision after all. 

What do you think the goal of Kagraku and her sister was? Was it to get the water? To destroy Kagome? To destroy the Guardians for some other sinister purpose? heh-heh you'll just have to keep reading to find out but I would like to hear from you all as to what your thoughts are.


	37. Aftermath

_**Story: Kagraku**_

_**Chapter 36: Aftermath**_

**_Story by Aero Tendo_**

_(Feudal Era)_

_(Within the Guardian's mountain)_

Koga and Aneko were resting in the same room where they'd first discovered that Aneko was a princess along with their other friends. It was the least damaged room out of the whole place. Those who had survived were being treated for their injuries within the same room along with their friends.

Koga had his arm around Aneko as she laid her head on his shoulder, sleeping a bit peacefully with her eyes closed. Koga looked at her as he remembered how very hard she had fought to drive those two… he didn't know what to call them. They hadn't been human or demon exactly, so the best that he could come up with was that they were monsters and even though he had detected Naraku's scent it was as if they'd only been around him and of him like his past children.

Koga leans over and gives Aneko a soft kiss on her forehead, which causes her to stir just for a moment before she just turns her cheek to nuzzle into him a little more. This makes Koga smile softly just for a few moments at her before his smile fades as the sound of someone in pain is heard.

Koga looks in that direction and sees Kagome applying some of her future medicine upon the injured fox demon with Inuyasha helping her by holding him still long enough for her to apply it properly.

Koga still felt a bit protective of Kagome since she was his friend and because of that, when he saw the cut on her left cheek, which she had covered with her band-aid from her time, and even though she had assured him that she was ok, he still hated to see her hurt. He knew that Inuyasha would be able to protect her and keep her safe, especially since he knew that they were in love with each other, as he could smell it every time he was around them.

Aneko stirs with a soft sound, which brings his attention back to her and she moves to sit up which makes her reveal a few holes in her clothes that had been caused by the intense battle with the two monsters.

Aneko slowly opens her eyes to look up at Koga and sees the concern and care within his eyes the moment their eyes meet. She smiles up at him before she says, "Hey there…" She then realizes that she'd been sleeping on his shoulder and says with a soft blush on her cheeks, "Sorry Koga, I guess I fell asleep on your shoulder."

Koga softly smiles at her and says, "Don't worry about it, I rather enjoyed having you sleeping on me." He then sees her blush even more before he reaches up to her chin and gives her a quick kiss upon her lips.

Aneko smiles at the quick kiss from Koga and leans to kiss him again before she winces at a little pain from one of her wounds. Even though she was a fox demon, she knew that it would still take some time for her to heal. Koga sees the pain on her face and says, "Don't push yourself too hard, that was a rough battle for anyone and you fought with more courage than… well, even me."

Aneko giggles softly and says, "Aw, don't sell yourself short Koga honey. You fought very some very tough battles right alongside me and even though it was tight in a few places I never felt more happy or safe than when I was beside you."

Koga's cheeks blush a little which makes Aneko smile more before she leans to kiss him softly on the lips and when she pulls back she softly whispers, "I love you Koga." Koga is speechless for a moment before he smiles at her in return and says just a notch louder than her, "I love you too Aneko." Before he wraps his arms gently around her, being careful to avoid hurting her.

Kagome sits up after she finishes treating a wound on another fox demon that had been hurt by a wall falling down on top of him when one of the two human-like creatures aimed a blast at him. The Guardian had been lucky he hadn't been hit directly because she'd seen what happened to the Guardians when they'd been hit. As it was, Kagome figured that he would be up and to his usual self within a day or two if he was anything like Inuyasha or Shippou.

The Guardian fox demon says, "Thank you Kagome, you are a very kind human." Kagome smiles down at him and says, "You're welcome, I am just glad I could help." The Guardian nods and says, "I saw you fighting against those creatures, you were incredible! I am sure glad you were here to help. I shudder to think what would have happened if you and your friends hadn't been here to help."

Kagome softly blushes, "Please, you're too much." The Guardian softly chuckles before he looks over to Inuyasha and says, "I saw the way you were fighting with her Inuyasha. You two make quite the unstoppable team. I am just glad you guys didn't choose to fight outside our mountain when I was out there. I think now that we would have lost even though we outnumbered you."

Inuyasha says, "Yeah, there's no demon that I can't handle in a fight and Kagome is about as good as me when she gets mad." The Guardian says, "Well Inuyasha I wouldn't let her escape if you know what I mean. She'd be someone I would want by my side if I thought I could claim her." His eyes look back and forth between Kagome and Inuyasha to see if his suspicions were correct and judging from their faces he was right on the money.

Inuyasha growls softly at the thought of another person trying to claim Kagome as theirs when he had finally just gotten rid of Koga trying to do the same thing when the Guardian laughs and says, "Fortunately I already have a little lady of my own and I doubt she'd be happy if I went after someone else."

Kagome smiles and reaches across the Guardian fox demon to wrap her arms around Inuyasha before he can say anything else and gives him a big kiss right on the lips! This sudden kiss surprises Inuyasha for a moment before he realizes he's being kissed and relaxes to reach out and hold her back while they kiss for a minute.

The Guardian watches the two kiss for a while and remembers what young love was like, letting them kiss for a while before he starts to feel a bit uncomfortable as their kiss grows more heated. He clears his throat loudly enough to break the two out of their passionate kiss.

The Guardian says, "Ahem, not that I didn't enjoy the sight of you two kissing but if my wife showed up I think she would get the wrong idea. Do you think you two could continue kissing elsewhere?"

Inuyasha blushes and grumbles something while Kagome giggles before she takes his hand in hers and pulls him away as she says to the Guardian, "Sorry about that, we'll go help someone else now." The Guardian chuckles and says to the two of them as they walk away, "Have fun kissing her after each patient Inuyasha!" which gets a giggle from Kagome and a "Shut up!" from Inuyasha.

Miroku was tending to a wound of Sango's on her left arm, which she had received when shrapnel from one of the Guardian weapons was sent flying back at the group. Sango had managed to block most of it with her giant boomerang but some hit her left arm and right leg. They both looked up when Inuyasha had yelled "Shut up!" at some Guardian for some reason.

After they saw that Kagome was giggling and towing a blushing Inuyasha, they figured that the Guardian had said something to embarrass Inuyasha before they looked at each other. They had been so close to each that their eyes met and for a moment to the two of them, all time seemed to freeze for everyone but them.

Sango looked deeply into Miroku's eyes and felt her heart beat more quickly, a part of her wanting to kiss Miroku while another part of her wanted to push him away because she still had that promise she'd made to herself about her younger brother in which she would forsake everything until got him back and out of Naraku's clutches. Still, she was a woman in love and the man she was in love with was just inches in front of her gazing deeply into her eyes.

Sango could feel Miroku's warm breath on her lips and her lower lip trembled just a little as a tiny panicked voice said, "Miroku's going to kiss me!" while another voice that didn't sound panicky said, "Miroku's going to kiss me!" She starts to close her eyes to the halfway point with their lips so very close to each other now as she waits for Miroku to kiss her when she felt something on her rear and she thought "Oh no… he wouldn't!"

Midoro was laying against the wall with Soten and Shippou sleeping in her lap with her hands resting upon each of their heads in a tender, comforting way. She was very proud of the two children for they had both been through a very tough battle with two human creatures and together they'd been able to save the lives of at least six Guardians.

Midoro suddenly hears a loud slap and looks in the direction of the sound to see a very red faced Sango and an even redder handprint on Miroku's face. She softly sighs and thinks, "When are those two going to learn?" Looking down, she sees that the loud slap didn't bother the two kids and she guessed that Shippou must be used to the sound of Miroku being slapped by now even as Soten must be used to loud sudden sounds being a demon from a valley where lightning happens all the time.

Midoro runs her fingers through Shippou's and Soten's hair in a tender, motherly way. She loved her son Shippou and had come to adore Soten as a kind of a daughter with everything that they had all been through. A part of her wondered if Soten would be a good match for her son. She had seen that Soten could be very brave and willing to fight for her friends, both of which were admirable qualities in someone so young.

Midoro had to admit to herself that she wouldn't mind having Soten as a daughter-in-law as she looked at Soten before she let her eyes drift back to Shippou and wondered what he thought of the young thunder-demon girl who had fought so hard beside him. She had to smile to herself as she remembered how it felt to fight beside her husband against demons before she had her children and how when she saw Shippou and Soten fight, it made her feel as if she was watching her husband and herself fight from the outside.

Midoro brushes her fingers through Shippou's hair some more before he turns a little in his sleep and turns towards Soten a little bit which makes her smile a little at the cute scene. A Guardian approaches her and she quickly brings a finger up to her lips to signal to be quiet before she glances down at the two sleeping. The Guardian nods and walks up to her before he pulls out a scroll that had the royal seal upon it.

Midoro nods to the Guardian who bows slightly to her before he turns to walk off, leaving her to open the scroll. She opens the scroll and takes care not to wake the children as she does so. She gasps softly as she reads the message sent to her from Negi and thinks, "This can't be!" before she looks down at Shippou to see that he is still asleep. She then looks at where Aneko is to see that she is still with Koga.

Midoro very slowly and carefully move both Shippou and Soten so that she can stand up and with one last check to see them sleeping side by side so cutely, she walks off to find Negi and have a word with him about what she wrote to him and why he felt it was necessary to not tell her such information in person. She grinds her teeth a little as she thinks of a reason and a few Guardians get out of her way, wounded or not after seeing the hostile vibes she was sending out.

Soten eventually wakes up on her own before Shippou does and blushes at how close he is to her, but she doesn't move because she was enjoying the sight of his face so close to her own as they laid facing each other. She had to admit that Shippou was so darn cute as he slept.

Soten sees that Shippou has a hand out as he slept and she slowly inches her hand towards his, trying to be quiet about it. She very slowly and gently places her hand over his, feeling the warmth and hidden strength of his hand that had once battled her to a even standstill once upon a time.

Soten had seen Shippou battling the horrid creatures that had invaded the mountain and knew that somehow Shippou gained even more courage and fighting ability to just barely surpass her own. She wanted to stay his equal in all things and so she promised herself to work at making herself stronger. She wanted to be someone that he would be happy and proud to have by his side.

Soten blushes softly as she wriggles a finger up and down over a finger and watches his face as he sleeps, thinking that she could just watch him sleep all day and never get bored. She looks at his open hand and traces a finger lightly over the lines of his hand, feeling the calluses that he'd gained in his travels with Inuyasha and the others.

All the touching of his hand starts to stir Shippou out of his sleep and he cracks an eyelid open to see what was touching his hand. He is surprised to see Soten with a dreamy smile and blushing cheeks playing with the palm of his hand.

Shippou just watches for minute in his sleepy state as his mind slowly catches up to what Soten is doing to his hand. For a few moments he is frozen in surprise when his mind finally catches up and he opens his eyes with a sudden movement and his hand flexes.

Soten notices the flexing of his fingers so she looks at his face and sees the surprise upon his face! She blushes very redly and whips her hand away from his as if she had just been caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

The two of them just look at each other with red faces, not sure what to say to each other before Soten says, "S-Sorry… I didn't mean to wake you up… you just looked so cute sleeping and I… _(Did I just say he was cute? I can't believe it!)_ just wanted to see if your hands were ok from all that fighting."

Shippou blushes some more and nervously says, "It-it is ok, no harm done… I guess. _(She called me cute! Does that mean she likes me?)_ My hand is fine." And so he waves the hand she'd just been touching to show that it is all right. The two of them just lay there until they realize that now they are awake, that they didn't have to continue to lie down.

Shippou is the first to sit up with Soten following and they manage to stop blushing but they still don't know what to say to each other. He looks down at his hands, poking his first fingers together in thought while Soten twirls a finger over the ground in a kind of S pattern as she too thinks.

Sango and Miroku do not miss the nervous tension of Shippou and Soten. The two of them watched the two children from a distance with the smallest of smiles upon their faces in case either Shippou or Soten happened to look their way.

Both Sango and Miroku thought that their young love was cute and Miroku whispers to Sango, "Looks like our young friend has a girlfriend." Sango looks at Miroku and whispers back, "Just don't go teaching him anything, I want him to keep his girlfriend."

Miroku looks at Sango with hurt eyes and says, "Why you wound me Sango, "I think I could teach Shippou much in the ways of women and love." Sango changes her position to look right at Miroku and lowers her eyes to glare at him, "The only thing YOU could teach him is how to be lecherous and Soten deserves better than that."

The two stare at each other for a few moments before Miroku says, "What if I promised not to teach him any of my lecherous ways, with you there to make sure?" Sango seems to think this over for a few moments before she says, "Very well, but only when I am around, got it?"

Miroku bows his head a little before saying, "Yes, and I shall not disappoint you my dear Sango." Sango is surprised at the way Miroku suddenly behaves towards her and a very light blush comes to her cheek and to keep Miroku from seeing it she turns her head away and her eyes fall upon the two young demons.

Sango whispers, "Miroku, look!" and so Miroku looks at the two young demons and smiles as he sees that they had come to lay on each other's shoulder and the sides of their heads were just barely touching, making it look as if they'd fallen asleep while leaning against each other.

Sango and Miroku just smile softly as they watch, letting the two young demons have their moments together for they'd earned it.

* * *

**AN:** Well, I certainly hope that you all enjoy this fluffy chapter. I did this as much for all you readers as I did for my own sanity. It was very hard to write that scene (which I was told gave nightmares to one of my readers) in the previous chapter. Anyway, it looks good for our heros so far but did Kagraku and her sister succeed in what they were trying to do or did they fail? These questions and more will be answered soon! Please read and review! 

Mika-Girl102: I apologize for the scary battle but it was necessary for what will happen later on in my story. I hope that you like THIS chapter much better. See, no battle in this one. :)

Shippogirl: Yeah, I know it was intense and stuff, and one of the hardest chapters I've ever had to write for ANY story but also crucial. It also linked the dream Aneko had in a previous chapter. I tried to refresh the dream tale in the chapter itself and I'm glad that worked out well.

BeccaPatty: Nice ideas but unfortunately if there was a prophecy I would have revealed it by now. - As for what their goal truly was... you'll just have to wait and find out like everyone else (grin)

Trekker4life: I am glad that you enjoyed this story and I am also happy to hear that you'll recommend this story to your friends. I like knowing that people enjoy reading a story enough to share it with friends.

Kagome's Twin Sister: Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter as well!

Shel: Here's another update! yay:)


	38. Decisions, decisions

Story: Kagraku 

_**Chapter 37: Decisions, Decisions…**_

**Story by Aero Tendo**

_(Feudal Era)_

_(Within the Guardian's mountain)_

Midoro walks down the hallway and sees the guards outside the room Negi is in, but given her mood, she didn't want to even acknowledge that the guards were there. The guards saw her approaching and even though they had orders not to interfere, they were secretly glad that they didn't have to stop her because she looked like she'd slaughter them if they had tried.

Midoro slams into the doors and they fly open. It was a good thing that he'd anticipated her arrival and even her mood so he had left the doors unlocked. Even still, Negi winced as he saw the walls crack under the powerful slam from her hands.

The guards pull the doors shut quickly behind her and one of the guards shakes his head, thinking that he wouldn't want to be in Negi's shoes for all the magic in the world.

Negi tries to remain calm as he sees Midoro who is quite angry, and easily a very powerful demon even without the royalty thing behind her. He knew however that it was those same royalty duties that were her reasons for storming in like that.

Midoro holds out the message in her hand and says, "What is the MEANING of this?"

Negi tries to remain calm under the face of the unrelenting fury that was before him and though he was able to pull it off on the surface, on the inside he was a bundle of nerves.

Negi says, "If you'll calm down for a moment, I will be more than happy to explain it." What he didn't expect was for her to grab him and lift him up into the air with a single hand. Her fox fire powers clearly showing around her body at that moment as she says once more, "Explain it, NOW!"

Negi sighs and says, "Ok, I'll explain… but please put me down first?" Midoro lets go of him and he drops into the seat below him a bit roughly.

Negi straightens out his clothes for a moment before he says, "Ok now, where should I begin… Ah yes, I am to put it quite simply not going to be around for much longer Midoro and I know you can imagine that without me in charge there will be a big power fight within the Guardians over who will be in charge. I don't think we need any more deaths around here do you?"

Midoro slowly calms down as she sees his point, "No, we don't… we already lost so many good Guardians to those two…" Negi interrupts by saying, "Exactly, and with the return of the royal family, it would fall upon you or your children to take over the role of leadership."

Midoro growls softly, "Look, there is no way that I will force the roles of being the Guardian leadership upon my children! They deserve to decide for themselves what they want to do!"

Negi nods, "True, I couldn't agree more… that is why I'd like for you to resume your duties as Queen of the Guardians."

Midoro sighs and puts her fingers to the bridge of her nose before she says, "I was afraid you'd say that. But quite frankly I don't want to be Queen again after all that it took to leave to be with my husband. I've seen too much, been through too much to be an effective ruler anymore."

Negi rubs his chin in thought and says, "That's unfortunate because then either one of your two children steps up to the task of being the new King or Queen, there will be more lives lost. Are you sure you won't reconsider?" He looks at her and sees that she is still thinking about it.

Negi sighs and leans back in the seat before he says, "Ok, think about it but don't take too long because I don't exactly have much time left."

Midoro looks at him and says, "There's nothing that anyone can do?"

Negi shakes his head slowly and says, "I'm afraid not. My time is almost up. I think I have about a month at best if I don't push myself too hard but after that…" He looks down for a moment before he looks up into her eyes and says, "Well, it has been a good run for me. I can't complain and I won't if there isn't anyone to take over for me."

Midoro looks like she is in deep thought before she says, "What were you planning on doing if we hadn't shown up?"

Negi looks a bit uncomfortable before he sighs and says, " Well, I know I promised never to tell but I was going to tell your daughter about her royal heritage in my final hours and hope that she'd accept the responsibility of leadership."

Midoro knew she should have been more angry and shocked but given what had happened the last time there had been a power vacuum within the Guardians, it was something that she didn't want to ever have happen again.

Midoro's shoulders slump down before she says, "I need to think about it and discuss this with the others."

Negi nods and says, "I understand perfectly, I wasn't sure if you would want to tell them or keep this to yourself so that is why I approached you first by messenger."

Midoro gives him a soft hug, "Thanks, and I'm sorry I lost my temper like that."

Negi smiles and returns the hug, "It is ok, it happens to the best of us at one point or another."

Midoro turns and says, "I'll see you around Negi and for what it is worth… I'm sorry." She sees him nod to her and he replies, "Thanks, but no apologies are necessary."

Midoro walks out of the room, past two nervous guards who'd heard nothing but eerie silence since she walked in and they both had feared for Negi. She didn't say a word to them or even acknowledge their presence, leaving them both to look into the room to check on Negi. She suppressed a giggle as she heard them try to whisper, "No way… Great Negi is unharmed… I thought he was a goner… He truly is Great…"

Midoro smiles and adds in thought to the last whisper she heard, "Yes… he truly is great… I just wish I could do something more for him."

Inuyasha and everyone was eating in a small make-shift eating area since the cafeteria place was still a room that no one could stand being in because of the slaughter that had been caused by Kagraku and her sister.

Everyone looks up as she comes in and Shippou is the first to welcome her back by running up before leaping up into her arms and giving her a big hug.

Midoro smiles as she holds Shippou in her arms and sees those great big trusting eyes, the sweet lovable child-like innocence that which makes him so special to her. She hugs him tightly and gives him a quick kiss on the cheek before she says, "How's my big, strong little man doing?"

Shippou smiles at his mother and says, "I'm doing great! How are you doing? You seemed a little down when you came back."

Midoro tries to hide the surprise on her face as she says, "My, aren't you an observant one? I was just doing some heavy thinking and I guess I let it get me down a little." She tickled him by the tummy until he begged for her to stop.

Midoro puts Shippou down and watches him run off to sit by Kirara and Sango. She walks over to the table before she grabs a bowl of rice and her chopsticks to begin eating in quiet thought.

Everyone notices her silence and decide to leave her be to her thoughts, they all guessed that it had to do with the two very powerful creatures that almost destroyed the Guardians within their own mountain!

After everyone finishes eating she stands up and says, "Aneko, Shippou, I want to talk to you both about something. It has to do with my past leadership duties as the Queen of the Guardians."

The silence followed by that simple announcement is one that could have been cut with a knife. Midoro walks over to a vacant corner of the room and sits there; it wasn't far as the room was so small that unless they whispered everyone would be able to hear them.

The two children looked at each other before she started to talk, wondering what she could have to say. Midoro takes a long, slow breath to steady her nerves before she says while looking at the both of them, "I have just learned that Negi doesn't have much longer to live, a month at best and then he will be gone."

Everyone in the room just about gasps at the shocking news, Shippou is the first to say anything by asking, "Isn't there anything we can do?" Midoro shakes her head and says, "I'm sorry, but there is nothing anyone can do. I'm afraid that the news doesn't get any better from here as well."

Aneko frowns a little and says, "What do you mean? How could it get any worse?" Koga walks over and sits by Aneko and wraps his arm around her in a sort of protective way, having a feeling he knows where this is going since he was a leader while the others weren't.

Midoro closes her eyes and then opens them slowly as she says, "Once Negi is gone, there will have to be an established leader for Guardians or the resulting power vacuum will most likely destroy what is left of the Guardians and I'm afraid that there will be no one left to protect anything."

Aneko looks at her mother, feeling like she knew where this was headed even as Koga tightens his grip on her, knowing that she was figuring out what he had just figured out. She says, "Mother, you don't want to be Queen again do you?" She knows she has it figured out when her mother lowers her head a little even as Shippou touched her knee and says, "Is she right Mom?"

Silence follows for a few moments before she says in a soft voice, "Yes, I made a vow to myself and your father that I would never be Queen of the Guardians again after what it took to break off and be with him."

Aneko says in a strong and confident voice, "I'll do it, I'll take over as Queen." She reaches over to Koga's free hand and takes it into hers, squeezing it tightly.

Midoro looks into her daughter's eyes and says, "It is complicated… if you do, then you can't marry Koga. You would have to be married before taking the crown or a select group of Guardians would choose the one who would become your husband… in an arranged marriage. I couldn't do that to you."

Aneko pales a little at the thought of being forced to marry someone she didn't truly love and squeezes Koga's hand in which he squeezes back in kind.

Koga then releases Aneko and moves be in front of her, kneeling to be level with her eyes before he takes her hand into his. He says with a voice full of love and strength before he says, "Aneko, ever since I broke off my engagement to Kagome, I have thought about marrying you and making you my one and only for me for life." He never waves in his gaze into Aneko's eyes as his heart pours into his eyes and his voice together as he continues, "If you will, I would consider myself the luckiest wolf demon in the world if you would consent to being my wife. So, will you marry me?"

Aneko just gazes into Koga's eyes, seeking the truth about why he proposes and sees within his soul that she can see within his eyes that he spoke the truth. He truly did love and want to marry her, and that while the timing was bad and that it had pushed his hand to ask her this early. She could tell that he would have asked her anyway and soon.

Tears start to fill her eyes slowly until they become big, streaming tears that run down her cheeks and onto her lap below. She breaks into a huge smile and leaps at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and knocking him flat onto his back as she shouts, "Yes! You crazy wolf-demon that I love, Yes! I will marry you!" She kisses him before he can say anything else.

Midoro was surprised that Koga would do that and then she smiles as she realizes that her daughter was in the hands of a demon that truly loved her with all his heart, just like her husband loved her. She knew now that she had a wedding and a coronation to plan!

Everyone in the room was happy for Aneko, even the grumpy Inuyasha. Kagome smiled and scooted over to Inuyasha before she whispers to him, "When get married, I want to have a big wedding ok?" This surprises him and makes him blush red even though the others wonder what Kagome could have said. She just giggles and places a quick kiss upon his cheek.

Midoro smiles as she watches Aneko and Koga just kiss for a long time while she covers Shippou's eyes with a hand even as he tried to watch and complained the whole time.

* * *

**AN:** I hope you all enjoythis chapter! Be sure to check out Mikagirl101's stories, she is the best at her Inuyasha stories!


	39. Do Re Mi So Let’s Plan a Future!

_**Story: Kagraku**_

_**Chapter 38: Do Re Mi So Let's Plan a Future!**_

_**Story by Aero Tendo**_

_(Feudal Era)_

_(Within the Guardian's mountain)_

Kagome was humming a wedding tune from her time as she walked with Inuyasha by her side. She was in a very happy mood even as she reaches out to wrap her arm around his and grab his hand with hers, moving closer to him which makes him blush uncomfortably even though with all that she'd done to him he was starting to get used to it, even enjoy it a lot.

Sango and Miroku were following behind with Kirara trailing behind Sango. Sango couldn't help but glance over at Miroku every so often, wondering what he was thinking about all this marriage stuff. She thought about her future and it included Miroku because she loved him but she just wasn't ready to settle down before she accomplished what she felt like she had to do.

She had to get her brother back from Naraku and that was even more important to her than even defeating Naraku as payback for killing her family and friends. She had a new family and friends in the way of Kagome and the others that had helped her get past the pain of losing her family.

Ever since the announcement that Aneko was going to marry Koga and take over as the leader of the Guardians, the whole mountain was alive with talk and action as everyone tried to prepare for the preparation of both a marriage and a coronation.

Shippou was bouncing around trying to find out what was going on and how he could help his big sister in even some small way. He loved his sister and like any young brother, he wanted to let her know how he felt by action rather than words, which were just too embarrassing to say.

Negi was humming a happy little tune to himself as well as he thought about how wonderful it would be to see a royal wedding before the end. He also thought about how even in the darkest of times, such as the awful attack by those two creatures, that some good could come out of it.

The most happy person in the castle next to Aneko herself was her mother, she was simply bubbling over with ideas for the wedding. She was an idea a minute as well as the most hyper person in the whole mountain as she ran about trying to see if any one of her thousand and one ideas would be feasible or look good enough for her little girl.

Midoro was in the kitchen right now, talking over things with the cooks over the many ideas she had for Aneko's wedding cake. Many of the ideas were deemed impossible, unfeasible or just plain too time consuming and would not allow the cooks to cook the rest of the meals needed to feed all the Guardians left in the mountain as well as come up with the treats for everyone during the wedding.

Aneko had the biggest smile on her face that she ever had in whole life, and since she was a fox demon and basically immortal, that was a long time. She had one arm around Koga's waist as she sat next to him while she was content to let her mother plan her wedding.

She couldn't wait until the wedding itself so that she could have Koga all to herself. She was very happy and giddy in excitement about marrying the most perfect, wonderful guy that she'd ever met in her life.

Aneko knew that all her friends were happy for her as well and had been told on many, many occasions that they wished the best for her as well as promised to do anything that they could to make her wedding the best in the entire history of the Guardians.

_(Naraku's Place)_

When Kagraku and Midoriko showed up, they had looked like they had both seen better days and it was little wonder for Inuyasha and his friends along with the entire remaining forces of the Guardians had attacked both of the girls rather hard.

Naraku was waiting for them as they arrived and he didn't look too happy about their condition. The two of them were pretty tired and weak after all the hard fighting that they'd had to do and thus they didn't feel like arguing with him.

Naraku says, "I trust you accomplished your mission?" His eyes bore the evil look that told the two that he would not accept failure from his two most recent and possibly most powerful 'children.'

Kagraku looks at Naraku as if she wanted to blast a hole through him but then slumped her shoulders as she thought the better of it. She looks away from him as she answers, "Yeah, we accomplished our mission. Now can we go lay down? We had to fight Inuyasha and all of the Guardians of the mountain."

Naraku's eyes seemed to gleam for a second before he narrowed his eyes and says to the two girls, "Inuyasha and his friends were there? Did you destroy them?"

They both looked at Naraku and shook their heads. Midoriko says, "No, but it wasn't from lack of trying. They were a tough bunch with the surviving Guardians helping them."

Kagraku watches Naraku's face as she says that to him before she says, "We destroyed a lot of the Guardians. I don't think they will be a fearful force again anytime soon unless they do some heavy recruiting and once others hear about the battle, it won't be an easy matter."

Naraku nods in thought before he looks at both of the girls and says, "Go get cleaned up, you two are absolutely filthy." before he then turns and walks down the corridor and into his room while they both fume quietly at the way he had just treated them.

_(Back at the Guardian's Mountain)_

Midoro was talking to some of the Guardians that played music and trying to decide what would be best when Kagome, Inuyasha and Shippou walk in.

Shippou runs up to his mother and asks what she is doing in his innocent way and this gets a warm smile from her as she leans down to pick him up into her arms. He looks at the group in front of him and says, "Is Aneko going to be playing some music?"

Midoro laughs as she shakes her head and then says, "No, no... My dear sweet Shippou. These people are going to be playing music at your big sister's wedding and the music for the coronation that will let her become the new Queen of the Guardians."

Shippou smiles and says, "Can I join too? I want to be a part of it all too!"

Kagome smiles at Shippou and says, "I don't think so Shippou, besides you don't even play a musical instrument."

Shippou pouts a little until his mother taps his chin up with her finger and says, "Don't you worry my little prince, and you'll have a big part in your sister's coronation. You will get to even wear your own crown and look all handsome for your sister on her big day. Now isn't that exciting?"

Shippou smiles and hugs his mother around the neck as he says, "Yeah! Thanks Mother!"

Shippou looked excited that he would get to play a part in all that was going on. He had missed his sister and mother so much. Now that they were back in his life, he wanted to be able to somehow make up for the lost time in which they'd been apart in.

Kagome starts to hum a tune from her time and the music catches the attention of Midoro who likes what she hears.

Midoro turns to Kagome and walks up to her as she listens to Kagome's humming. She listens until Kagome finishes humming for a moment to start it over again at which point she says, "Kagome, that is a beautiful song. What is it called?"

Kagome blushes a little as she glances at Inuyasha who just gives her a puzzled look before she says to Midoro, "It is called Wedding March song. It is a popular tune in my time and…" She gives a sly smile at Inuyasha, "I've been hearing it in my head ever since Aneko decided to marry Koga."

Inuyasha looks pleased that Koga is not going to be after Kagome but the two women give each other a little secret smile in knowing what Kagome really meant.

Midoro thinks about the song that she heard from Kagome and wonders if there were any other songs from her time that she might like as well so she puts down Shippou and says, "Are there any other songs that you can think of that might be perfect for my daughter's wedding?"

Kagome thinks about it for a few seconds before she says, "How do you feel about duets? There are a couple of songs that are quite lovely and could be sung by Koga and Aneko."

Midoro smiles and nods as she says, "Do tell… what are the songs and how do they go?"

Kagome giggles, "Oh, well there's one called "This Moment" and then there's "I will still love you" both of which are really nice songs. I think I might even have them with me in my backpack if you want to hear them."

Midoro smiles even more and says, "Sure, I'd love to hear them! I bet you have a good singing voice."

Kagome laughs a little and says, "Um, that's not what I meant by you hearing them. Oh, just come with me and I'll show you. It will be easier that way."

Midoro looks confused and walks off with Kagome and as the two women leave, Inuyasha hears one of them softly say, "When, I'm glad she left… she was really wearing me out since she wanted to hear every song we knew over and over again." With the others softly mumbling in agreement.

Inuyasha wonders to himself, "Do all women get this crazy over weddings?" before he follows Kagome and Midoro out of the room.

After a lengthy time of explaining how the music could come from such a tiny device and about the headphones, Midoro tried them on which still freaked her out the first time Kagome played one of the songs from the CD player.

Inuyasha just stood there watching and remembering when he had experienced Kagome's 'science' for the first time. He could sympathize a little with what she was going through even though a part of him thought she was overdoing it on the freaking out part but then he simply chalked it up to her being a woman.

Inuyasha walked over to a corner of the room and sat down as he decided to watch, knowing that neither Kagome nor Midoro would be needing him anytime soon. He was right as the two women listened to just about every CD in Kagome's backpack over and over again for the next few hours until they had narrowed their choices down to a few songs from just a couple of the CD's.

One of the Guardians comes into the room and invites them join the others in a meal. At that point, Inuyasha realizes how hungry he is and looks uncomfortable when his stomach growls.

The Guardian chuckles and says, "Well, it looks one of you is certainly hungry. Why don't you all come eat and then you can resume what you were doing?" The Guardian looks at Midoro with a puzzled expression as he can hear some music and wonders why Midoro has some strange things over her ears.

Kagome smiles as she realizes that she was hungry too and says, "We'd be happy to join in." She hits the stop button on the CD player and the music that the Guardian could faintly hear suddenly stops.

Midoro removes the headphones that were over her ears and says, "I'm famished but where are we eating?"

The Guardian seems a little apologetic as he says, "Well the only place big enough that wasn't either damaged or isn't still being cleaned up is the Great Hall, so that is where everyone is going."

Midoro's face flashes a bit of anger before she realizes that he was probably right and then she inwardly sighs, as she knows that it couldn't be helped under the current situation. She says, "It is ok, I think that the great leaders would understand given current situation."

The Guardian seems to relax a little and even gives her a little smile in thanks before he says, "I'm pleased to hear that coming from you. Thank you."

Midoro smiles softly and says, "You're welcome, now let's go before we all faint from hunger ok?" She laughs at the end to show that she is joking and everyone else but Inuyasha joins in, he just stands up and says, "Let's go everyone…" before he walks out the door and then turns to wait for the others.

Midoro smiles and says, "Well, you heard Inuyasha. Let's not keep his stomach waiting any longer." This makes everyone laugh and make Inuyasha blush in embarrassment before everyone steps out of the room and they all head to the Great Hall to go eat.

* * *

**AN:** Well everyone I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I know that it didn't reveal much but then I did want to keep a few things a surprise. Such as what was the mission of Kagraku and her sister? Well, you'll just have to wait and find out, but I promise you that it WILL be a surprise. (Does a villain laugh just like Naraku's if he ever did one.) I have things planned for the next couple of chapters that will be eventually just as big in impact as the wedding, depending on who you are in my story. (chuckle) Please review! I just love them and it makes me update faster! 

Mika-Girl102: Thanks for the review and even though this chapter is short, the wedding will most certainly not be. Thanks for the advertising of my name & story in your stories. Hey everyone else who reads this, go check out Mika-Girl's stuff! She's a good writer and she updates a lot more frequently than I do! lol:)

Shel The Inuyasha Stalker: It only SEEMS like I'm getting off track. This is all leading to how Kagome will be helped and why they brought her to the mountain in the first place. I'm planning on something big to come up very soon that will make Inuyasha and the gang really ticked off at Naraku and poor Kagome... (grin) What is going to happen? I won't say. You'll just have to read and find out. Maybe if I actually get more than 1 or 2 reviews this time I'll update the next chapter much faster and you can find out that much sooner.

To all my other faithful readers, thanks for reading this story. I hope you enjoyed it:)


	40. Lets go get a wedding dress!

_**Story: Kagraku**_

_**Chapter 39: Let's Go Get a Wedding Dress!**_

_**Story by Aero Tendo**_

_(Feudal Era)_

_(Within the Guardian's mountain)_

Kagome is sitting down and wondering just what she can give as a gift for the wedding of Aneko and Koga. She knows that marriage between the two will last a lifetime, and since they were both demons, it could very well last up to even her time.

Kagome thought hard and long, with an expression of deep thought, something that none of her friends were used to since the 'change' that had occurred back at the hospital.

Kagome snaps out of her deep thought and gets the biggest smile on her face, the kind that one would get when they've figured out something big time.

Kagome rushes over to where Inuyasha is and grabs him, "Come on! I need your help!" She pulls him by his wrist, knocking him off his feet with surprising strength to him as he says, "Hey, wait a minute Kagome! Where are we going?"

Kagome continues to pull him right out of the room as she yells to her friends, "We'll be right back!" and then a moment later she is heard saying, "Inuyasha! Quit fighting me! Do I have to say the 'S' word?"

Inuyasha's faint grumbling is heard before their footsteps quickly vanish down the hallway.

Sango and Miroku look at each other with puzzled looks before Sango voices her thought, "What was that all about?" with Miroku replying, "I don't know Sango, perhaps Kagome got some sort of idea for the wedding? She has been a bit preoccupied with it as of late."

The two just stand there in silence for a few more moments before Kirara lets out a soft "Meow" and settles down to rest next to Sango's feet in her small form.

Kagome is riding on Inuyasha's back as he runs quickly at her insistence until he finds Aneko and she hops off of him, pausing only to give him a quick kiss on the cheek and a "Thank you Inuyasha." She doesn't see Inuyasha blush or hear his "You're welcome Kagome."

Kagome smiles and clasps Aneko's hands in hers as she says, "I was thinking long and hard about what to do for your wedding, and it came to me! How about a wedding dress in the style from my time?"

Aneko looks puzzled at Kagome and says, "I don't know… the wedding is so soon, do you really think you could get a dress for me so quickly?"

Kagome squeals in delight and says, "Oh! I'm glad you agree!" She then pulls Aneko towards the door and says, "We don't have a moment to lose! We must go to the well and take you to get dressed up in the most beautiful wedding dress!" She pulls Aneko past Inuyasha who gives her an apologetic look while Aneko has the look on her face that reads "What have I gotten myself into?"

Kagome, Aneko, and Inuyasha leave the mountain and go to the well with only a brief explanation to the guards at the gate that the three of them would be back soon.

_(Kagome's Time)_

Kagome's mother is just finishing up doing some chores that needed to be done now that the weather was returning to normal, when she hears noises coming from the well and she smiles as she knows it could mean only one thing, her daughter was home!

She knew she was correct when as she approached the doors, she could hear Kagome's voice and Inuyasha's even though she couldn't make out what they were saying through the thick doors.

Before she could get to the doors, Inuyasha pushed one of them open as he complained, "I still don't see why we have got to come here Kagome just to get some silly dress!"

Kagome didn't even see her mother because she was looking at Inuyasha and says rather loudly, "Because Inuyasha, this is the best place to get the most unique and wonderful dress for the wedding!"

Kagome's mother smiles and says, "Are you talking about your wedding, Kagome?" which startles Kagome and she blushes red on the spot before Aneko steps out from behind the two and says, "I'm sorry, but she is referring to my wedding. I am going to be marrying Koga very soon."

Kagome's mother never wavered in her smile as she looked at Aneko and says, "Your wedding? Oh, that is simply wonderful! I am very happy for you!"

Aneko smiles at the woman before her and says, "Thank you, I hope you don't mind all this, it was all Kagome's idea."

Kagome's mother looks at Kagome and then back at Aneko before she says, "I am not surprised, I hope Kagome wasn't too forceful. Once she gets an idea in her head, she can be a force of nature." Which gets a "MOM!" from Kagome and she has to suppress a giggle.

Aneko laughs and smiles as she says, "You're right about that. Kagome's told me a little about this time but I think I can handle anything. After all, the more things change, the more things stay the same."

Inuyasha grumbles and then mumbles, "I thought I could handle it when I first came here too, but things are so different here…"

Aneko's good hearing picked up every word Inuyasha said but she remained silent and a part of her mind wonders what could make even the normally unflappable Inuyasha say such a thing.

Kagome's mother says, "Well, if we're going to get you a wedding dress we better get going before the stores close." She then turns to Kagome and says, "Kagome, you should find some way of covering up their ears before I return with the keys and my purse, ok?"

Kagome nods and then says, "Come on, we've got to get something to cover your ears with."

Inuyasha who knew the drill says, "Yeah, Yeah… I'm coming…" while Aneko says, "I still don't understand why I can't just go the way I am."

Kagome says, "Because people aren't used to demons or seeing people going around with ears unless they're fakes that can easily spotted as such. Both of you would simply draw too much attention with them. Just ask Inuyasha!" and then she dashes off into the house to grab some stuff.

Aneko looks at Inuyasha as if waiting for an explanation, before Inuyasha says, "Well, just about every time anyone's noticed my ears they have come up to them and…" Inuyasha looks uncomfortable at this point but then he says so low that she has to lean just to hear him say, "They like to tug at my ears, like as if they tug hard enough they're going to come right off… it is most embarrassing…"

Aneko blinks at this information and then imagines Inuyasha just standing there, taking it as people try to tug and rub at his ears in an effort to check it out. She starts to softly giggle but it builds up into a laugh before Inuyasha shouts, "Stop that!" at her.

Aneko stops laughing before she says, "S-sorry Inuyasha… just had a picture of you in my head… and…" she looks like she is about to start laughing again when Inuyasha says, "Well, we will see how funny it is when it happens to you. Just think about people tugging and pulling on your ears because they're wondering if they're real!" This takes all the funny out of the situation as the picture of Inuyasha in her head is replaced by an image of herself in his place and she suddenly feels sympathy for him.

There is silence in the air as the two of them just stand around waiting for one of the two to come back it is Kagome who comes back and she has a baseball cap for Inuyasha and one of her own nice hats for Aneko.

Just as Kagome is checking out her work on Aneko, Kagome's mother comes out and says, "I'm ready to go when you are Kagome." Kagome turns and smiles, "We're ready to go Mom!"

So, with a "what have we gotten ourselves into" look at each other, Inuyasha and Aneko follow Kagome and her mother to the car.

Aneko is puzzled at first about why everyone is getting into what looks like a weird house of some sort before Kagome explains it is a like a carriage, only they don't require any horses to drag them along. Aneko hesitantly climbs in and then cries out a little in surprise as the car starts up and begins to move without any visible horses!

Kagome has to settle her down and tell Aneko that it is just one of the things that human science has figured out how to do over the many years since her time. Aneko looks at Inuyasha who looks bored since he knew about cars and he mumbles, "I could get there faster if I went by foot…"

While Kagome admonishes Inuyasha for what he said, Aneko looks out the window and is amazed at how things have changed since her time. She watches as other cars drive by, the way buildings got to be so very tall without falling over. The way people were dressed and walking about so calmly as if they didn't have any fears or worries about attacks from anyone and it was this part that she envied the most about Kagome's time.

Soon, they arrive at the wedding store and it just happened to be run by one of a very close friend of Kagome's mother.

The four of them enter the store and the woman spots Kagome's mother right away, she comes over and gives her a hug, "Hi there! It is so good to see you! How long has it been since we've had a good talk?"

Kagome's mother smiles at her friend and says, "Been too long Tara, but I am afraid it will have to wait. You see, I brought in a customer for you today."

Tara looks at Kagome who is by her mother's side and says, "Oh! Don't tell me! Your little Kagome is finally getting married!" Which makes Kagome lightly blush as she had thoughts of marriage all right, but she wasn't engaged… yet, thought Kagome.

Inuyasha looked uncomfortable and blushed a little as he knew that Kagome must be thinking about him and the thought of being married to her wasn't exactly an idea that he was totally unhappy with either.

Kagome's mother laughs softly and says, "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I promise you that if my dear Kagome is going to get married, you'll be the store she goes to." She turns to show Aneko behind her and says, "This is the young lady who will be getting married, she is a friend of Kagome's and it was her idea to bring her here."

Tara seemed to be disappointed for a few moments but then she recovers and gives Tara a warm, genuine smile as she says, "Well since you are such a good friend of Kagome's I will give you a special discount on your wedding dress."

Aneko gives Tara a shy, nervous smile and says, "Thank you, I appreciate that."

Tara looks Aneko up and down with a long, practiced eye and she could guess within an inch or two what her measurements were. She then ran through a quick catalog of all the stuff that she had in store that might fit a young lady of her measurements.

Tara turns to one of the others in the store and says, "Nabiki, go get me the rack of dresses from A-6" She turns back to smile at Aneko and says, "We're going to make you the most beautiful bride that ever existed…" which makes Aneko blush a little.

Tara leads Aneko to another room where Nabiki pushes in a rack of dresses into the room and then waves before she walks out of the room. Tara says, "I'm sure we'll find just the dress for you, or I'll make one for you if you don't see something here you don't like."

Aneko looks at Kagome for support and she just smiles back at her like Aneko is going to do all the work. She then looks at Tara and says, "I don't know… all the dresses look so beautiful, it will very hard to pick one out."

_(Time passes)_

More than half the dresses have been tried on, with a few 'favorites' put on another rack to come back to later unless Aneko made up her mind on one.

Tara smiles and says, "You've looked at most of my dresses and they all look incredible on you but I can tell that there's something on your mind girl, what is it? I can modify just about anything you want about them. If you want more sparkles, I can do that, if you want to change the color, I can do that…" She pauses when she sees that the mention of color changing has struck a cord in Aneko.

Tara looks at Aneko and says, "Is there a particular color you wanted a dress, hon?"

Aneko looks at Tara and says, "Well… all the dresses are so beautiful, and I really would hate for you to go through all the trouble of changing a dress…" She walks over to the 'favorites' rack and pulls out her favorite dress and one that she would have immediately chosen if not for the fact that she wasn't 100 percent feeling good about the color of it.

Aneko turns around and holds the dress up, "This one is my favorite one out of all that I've tried on, it fits me so well… but I was not sure I liked the color. Would it be hard for you to change the color? Maybe add a few sparkles to it so I look like royalty?"

Tara smiles and nods, "Of course, every girl should feel like a princess on her wedding day."

Aneko's face slowly turns into a sly, knowing kind of smile and says, "How about like a Queen?" Only Kagome and Inuyasha get the hint and while Inuyasha just rolls his eyes, Kagome giggles with a knowing smile on her face. Kagome's mother knows that look and decides to ask about it when they get out of the shop.

Aneko looks at Tara and says, "Oh, how soon can you have it ready by? I am getting married very soon."

Tara looks at the dress and figures that adding sparkles and changing the color along with the fact that it is probably going to be a rush job… She says, "Well, I could have it ready for you in as little as a two days, one if after the coloring and sparkles that the dress doesn't need to be readjusted on you. Would that be soon enough?"

Aneko leaps and gives Tara a hug around the neck before she blushes and steps back and says, "S-Sorry… Yes, that will be fine. I can't wait to show him my beautiful dress when I marry him."

Tara smiles and says, "Don't worry about it… it happens all the time. Oh, and trust me on this Hon, your guy will only remember one thing, and that will be just how incredibly beautiful you looked to him on that day even years down the road."

Aneko imagines Koga's smiling face at her and blushes softly, with everyone just smiling as they watch her, except Inuyasha. Inuyasha is sitting down, looking like he asleep, but actually he thinks, "I wonder… what will Kagome look like when I marry her?" and tries to imagine her in some of the dresses that he'd seen Aneko in.

Kagome is doing the same thing as Inuyasha and had they known that they were imagining the very same dresses for at nearly the same time, they probably would have stopped and blushed redly on the spot.

Tara smiles warmly at Aneko and says, "So, what color would you like to see on your wedding dress?"

Aneko looks at the dress in her hands for a few moments, thinking about the way it'll look when it is all done just the way she wants and then she looks up to Tara with a smile as she makes her decision upon the color she'll be wearing for the wedding.

* * *

**AN:** Did you enjoy this chapter? I know it doesn't have a lot of 'fluff' in it but that's because I'm saving it for ze' wedding. (Grin) Anyway, sorry to leave you all in the dark about what Aneko is going to choose as the color for her wedding dress but feel free to guess. Kudos to you if you can guess it right! I'll describe the dress and color in much more detail on the wedding day, after all why spoil the surprise? 

Shel: Thanks for the review and the compliment. You are a good writer as well and I highly suggest everyone who's read this chapter to go check out her stuff:)

Mika-Girl101: Thanks for the review...I think... LOL! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Europe Girly: Yeah, thanks for the reminder about the wedding. Trust me, I think everyone will enjoy the wedding, including you.

WackyGirl101: Maybe I'll write you into a Inuyasha wedding sometime if you ask me real nicely. (smile)

Kairiyuna: I'm glad you liked my last chapter and hopefully this update came soon enough for you.

As for all you new readers, thanks for your reviews and I hope that you'll all come back to read the wedding chapter!


	41. The Wedding Day!

_**Story: Kagraku**_

_**Chapter 40: The Wedding Day!**_

_**Story by Aero Tendo**_

AN: I have NO idea of how a traditional Japanese wedding from the Feudal Era goes, so I made something up. Sorry if I offend anyone.

_(Feudal Era)_

_(Within the Guardian's mountain)_

Shippou was bouncing all around the room in his excitement as the day in which his sister would finally get married on was finally here! He laughs and runs around as he says, "Today's the day! My big sister's getting married to Koga!"

Inuyasha was grumbles, "Don't remind me Shippou…" then he shouts, "Will you quit bouncing around like that! You're getting on my nerves Shippou!"

Shippou sniffs twice and then he starts to cry, "Wahhh! I am just excited for Aneko! You don't have to be so mean Inuyasha!"

Miroku was also in the room, getting ready and says, "Inuyasha, Shippou is just a child and he can't help but be overwhelmed by the situation. After all Inuyasha, it isn't every day that someone we know is getting married. Much less someone who is about to become Queen right afterwards."

Inuyasha grumbles as the words make sense to him and he says, "You're right… I'm sorry Shippou. Do you think you could keep it down though? I already feel uncomfortable enough having to wear these stupid clothes."

Inuyasha is standing and looking very uncomfortable in the kimono that he had been told to wear or he was to come naked! Given the choices of being in the special wedding outfit vs that of showing up naked. He chose to wear the clothes, which wasn't hard after Kagome had told him that he had to show up or she'd give him a thousand "Sits" and he hated those.

Shippou smiles at Inuyasha and says, "It is ok Inuyasha, I forgive you!" and then hops up give Inuyasha a quick hug before hopping back down.

Just then there was a soft knock at the door and a female voice that they didn't recognize says, "Is everyone all ready? I am here to escort everyone to the wedding."

Inuyasha was dressed already and so was Miroku but with all the bouncing around, Shippou had messed up his outfit a little so Miroku says, "One moment please, we'll be right out."

Miroku leans down and fixes Shippou's outfit before he straightens up and they all walk towards the door as Miroku says, "We are ready now."

The door is opened from the outside and reveals a couple of Guardians. The female who had asked was standing right outside the door and dressed in a very beautiful outfit appropriate for her duties as an escort to the place where the wedding was going to take place.

Even the guards were dressed nicely in their ceremonial armor that had been polished so much that it shined brightly even in the soft candlelight that lined the hallway. Their faces betrayed a little bit of the pride that they felt at being able to be the honor guards to ones who were not only the same ones who had helped save their mountain, but to be also included as part of the small personal group for the princess's wedding.

Miroku couldn't help himself as he reaches out and takes the lovely guardian's hands into his and says, "Miss, will you bear my children?"

Everyone had been told of Miroku's tendency to do that with pretty girls and even the female guardian had been prepared. She remembered what Sango had told her before she came over.

She pulls her hands out of Miroku's and diverts her eyes away from his to the ground as she says, "No Miroku, for you see I don't think my husband would appreciate that…" a small part of her had to smile even though she really was single.

Miroku takes it in stride and says, "Oh, then I'm sorry and please forgive me for my earlier proposal."

She looks back to Miroku and says, "Think nothing of it Miroku." She then turns halfway and brings a hand up to point to the space between the honor guards before saying with a light smile, "Please, come with us. We don't want to keep the princess waiting for her own wedding, do we?"

Shippou takes the lead, as he says, "We sure don't" with Miroku and Inuyasha following up from behind.

Everyone walks down the decorated corridor and it was practically impossible to find some place that was not decorated in honor of the wedding and soon to be new Queen. Shippou is smiling while looking happy as well as a little smug to be a prince as well as being able to attend his own sister's wedding and be right up there along with Inuyasha and Miroku.

The small group walks up to the large room where it is even more lavishly decorated and it seems like just about everyone in the whole mountain was there since there were so many people there that the place where they had to go was **way** down the middle.

Even still, they waited until Koga shows up and he looked different all dressed up instead of his usual armor that he wore. He was dressed in a very high quality, white kimono with what looked like a gold pattern that stood for the Guardians weaved along the arms and over the chest.

Koga looked a bit nervous even though he was obviously doing his best to try not look it. He says, "Hey guys, thanks for being a part of all this." As he looked at Inuyasha he holds out his hand and says, "I'm about to start a new life, so I might as well put aside our past differences. Can we be friends Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha had never liked Koga because he was always proclaiming this and that about his Kagome even though he had respected Koga and would call him friend. After a moment of looking at Koga and seeing that he was trying to be sincere, he takes Koga's hand into his and says, "All right Koga, we can be friends. And one more thing… just be sure you treat her right, ok?" He says the last part not menacingly but as a suggestion and Koga picks up on it.

Koga chuckles and says, "Don't worry Inuyasha, I will. I love her and I will do everything I can to make sure she's happy."

Koga and Inuyasha break from shaking hands and Miroku says, "This is a momentous occasion in more ways than one. I never thought you two would become actual friends."

Both Koga and Inuyasha give Miroku an angry look before all three break out in soft laughter.

Miroku says, "Well, we better get you married Koga, I imagine Aneko is quite anxious to marry you." Koga nods to Miroku and says, "Yeah…" looking even more nervous than before for a few moments until Inuyasha says, "Don't worry Koga, I am sure everything will go smoothly." Oddly enough this helps calms Koga down.

They all turn to face down the aisle and walk down; going slowly past everyone that had gathered and they were all standing in honor of Koga and his friends. A few would nod appreciatively as they walked by. Even most of the injured who could be there were at the wedding. Some of them nodded, some saluted, but it was evident in their eyes that they were all being honored in one way or another as the four of them walked down the aisle.

Koga gets to the end of the very long aisle and turns to look at Negi who was going to be the one to marry Koga since the real priest had been turned into goo by one of the two females that had destroyed so many Guardians.

Koga and Negi exchange nods and looks before their attention is diverted to the end of the aisle where the doors are still closed with Honor Guardians standing at the ready to let the bride and bridesmaids in (Kagome's idea.)

To Koga the wait for the signal for the Honor Guardians to open the doors seems like a lifetime, but then when the signal is given, he realizes something. His whole life had lead up to this very moment, in which he would come to share the rest of his life with someone whom he could truly grow old with and knows that she understands him on such a deep level that he felt like he had finally found his soul mate.

Koga does something that he didn't have a chance to do a lot as a leader of the demon wolf tribe. He smiled, and it wasn't just any smile either, it was a big and welcoming smile to his heart and soul in all its perfect beauty. He knew he couldn't be any happier than he was right then and there with all of the tensions and nervousness that he'd had before melt completely right out of his body to leave a strong, and confident wolf-demon.

Aneko was standing perfectly in the center in her black dress with her three friends standing behind her. Their kimonos were beautiful and complimented their figures just fine but everyone's eyes were upon Aneko even when the doors fully opened as quietly as they could. Everyone would always remember the unusual but beautiful black wedding dress she had on.

From the way the shoulders were a bit poofy with little ruffles in them to the way the dress came down in the front and modestly showed her cleavage. Some of the other Guardian women were just amazed at the style of it and wondered where she had gotten a dress that had such an unusual way of displaying her arms where there was a part of her sleeves that showed her arms with a X form of tying going all the way down to where the sleeves became a beautiful and elegant draping style that never seemed to quite cover her hands whenever she moved her arms.

The first thing that Aneko did once the light of the doors showed before her, she started to look over everyone that she could see close by and smiled friendly at them, whether she had gotten to know that person or not real well. She was glad that the transparent veil from Kagome's time stopped just above her lips so she could be certain that they knew she was smiling even though after a few motions to people, she was certain that they could see her eyes easily too.

Aneko stands still, barely breathing as her eyes travel up the aisle, moving up row by row and giving attention to everyone before her eyes stop just before she would look at the others at the altar directly. Waiting for the ceremony to begin while her thoughts were in chaos, wondering a little if she was making the right decision or being too hasty in choosing to marry Koga.

Kaede was right behind Aneko with a big smile upon her face and even from the distance, she could still see all the guys up ahead. She blushed softly as she saw Ginta and for a few moments she imagined that it was the two of them getting married which only made her blush more deeply. She looked and sought Ginta's eyes from the distance and once their eyes met, it was like he knew what was on her mind because he was thinking the very same thing.

Kagome was behind Kaede alongside Sango in their beautiful kimonos, which had light crystals embedded that caused them to sparkle a little whenever they moved or took a step. She glances at Sango who was staring straight ahead and it looked like she was getting stage fright from the look of things. She leans over to whisper, "Relax Sango, all the eyes are going to be on Aneko, not us…" then she thinks, "I hope not ALL eyes…" as she hopes that Inuyasha will be watching her. She looks again at Sango who nods and whispers, "Thanks Kagome." She nods and turns her attention forward, trying to see Inuyasha but at that distance and where she was standing, she couldn't see the other guys.

Sango gulps softly as she tries to remember what Kagome says but she couldn't help it, even though she knew all the eyes were on Aneko, they certainly FELT like they were all staring at her. She tried to focus on just one person, hoping that would make it easier to deal with and she fails to find anyone she knew in the crowd so she takes a chance to look at where the guys were.

Sango can see all the guys and then when she catches the sight of Miroku it feels like all the air was stolen from her and her heart feels like it has skipped a few beats. She sees that Miroku was not in his normal monk attire, he was dressed in such a nice way that it made him seem so very handsome, breathtaking to her even. She had found her center in him and the crowd of eyes seem to vanish for her, making it seem like that there was no one but the two of them in the room. From the way Miroku was looking back at her, she knew that he was feeling exactly as she was, yet this time she didn't blush, instead she smiled at him and felt like the smile would never be erased from her face.

Once the music begins, Aneko takes a deep breath and steps forward with her eyes forward and just then when her eyes meet Koga's she feels like a big, yet pleasant electric current has just flowed through her body. Almost instantly all doubts, all fears and any tensions she had relaxed. She felt like she had found her perfect mate, the one to whom she could tell anything and talk about anything. She knew that he would be the one person in her life whom she would love to cuddle up with on cold nights. She knew in her heart that he would be a loving and protective father and a wonderful husband that would never betray or allow any harm to come to her. Even in the deepest depths of her soul, she knew that Koga and her would be one forever and that they would grow older together, share the lives of their children growing up and end their days together in their old age with smiles on their faces.

Aneko's eyes remain locked upon Koga's, and even many years later, she knew that even though all their friends had been there, all she would remember is the way Koga had looked right then to her. She could hear the soft whispers of the people as Kaede, Kagome and Sango walked behind her, trying not to step on the long draping part of her dress that softly drags on the fabric that which had been laid out for just this special occasion. Even the soft sounds her black shoes make whenever she took a step were whispered about whenever a glance or two appeared from the front of the dress.

Aneko feels so very light and happy that she feels as if she is gliding quickly all along the very long aisle, even though the walk seemed so short to her because before she knew it, she was there in front of him.

Negi says, "Now the couple before us would like to sing their vows to each other as a way to prove their love and dedication to each other. I ask for everyone to please be quiet until the end please."

Aneko starts the song off in perfect key as she sings, "From this moment, life has begun…" with her eyes gazing up at Koga's with such love that even through the veil Koga could feel it.

Koga reaches out and pulls up the veil to reveal her eyes without missing a beat as he sings his part in perfect key and timing, "From this moment, you are the one…" The back of his fingers brushes along side of her cheek for just the barest of moments, but to the two of them it seemed much longer.

Even with that touch, they don't miss a beat as Aneko sings with her heart into the song, "Right beside you"

Even though their voices are naturally different, the way they sing together in perfect harmony with each other the way they pour their hearts into their words have effects upon their friends and everyone in the large room as they continue their song together, "Is where I belong, from this moment on…"

Koga gives Aneko a smile with his eyes as he sings his part, "From this moment, I have been blessed…"

Aneko returns the smile in her eyes as she sings, "I live only for your happiness…" which only grows as Koga sings, "And your love…"

Kagome has tears running down her cheeks as she looks from the singing couple to Inuyasha, feeling the love that they are pouring into each other and their words which make her wish that she could show Inuyasha how much she loves him much like that.

Sango is glancing from the singing couple as she can feel the intensity of their love filling every pore of her body and she looks at Miroku who seems to be under the same influence. She could see Miroku's eyes as they seemed to be trying to send the very same kind of love that Aneko and Koga are sharing with each other and is surprised when she sees the beginnings of tears fill his eyes. They both look at Aneko and Koga when the two of them sing, "I'd give my last breath, from this moment on…" in sync with such heartfelt intensity that there was no doubt in anyone's mind that they meant it.

Aneko starts to reach out with Koga doing the same and when they take each others hands in theirs, the intensity and volume grows as if they are declaring it to everyone in the room.

Aneko sings loudly as she gently squeezes Koga's hand in hers, "I give my hand to you with all my heart…" with Koga singing just as loudly to her in return, "Can't wait to live my life with you, can't wait to start…" before they both start together, "You and I will never be apart, my dreams came true because of you…"

Kagome's lower lips quivers as her heart aches for Inuyasha, knowing that the song is only echoing the feelings that she holds for Inuyasha in her heart and she can see in his eyes that he knows.

Sango and Miroku both echo the words in their thoughts and hearts as they listen, their eyes locked into each other's.

Kaede gazes at Ginta as she hears the words and wishes with all her heart that she could spend her life with him, even though she'd just met him not too long ago, she was already crazy in love over him and she could see that he liked her but he was so shy and uncertain about his own feelings. It was things like that, which she found so cute and lovable about him and made her fall even more in love with him.

Aneko sings just as loudly as before, "From this moment…" before Koga starts to sing in perfect sync with Aneko and their united words carry loud and far for all to hear with their ears and hearts, "As long as I live, I will love you… I promise you this… There is nothing, I wouldn't give… From this moment on…"

Aneko's cheeks have a steady stream of tears flowing down her cheeks as she sings, "You're the reason I believe in love…" with Koga reaching up with a hand to touch her tears with his fingers as he sings, "And you're the answer to my prayers from up above…"

The two of them step closer as they gaze deeply into each other's eyes until it must seem that they have forgotten that the world exists, unless one would count the world in which only the two and their love exists. These feelings and thoughts seem to be felt and heard by all as they continue to sing together now, "All we need is just the two of us… My dreams came true, because of you… From this moment… As long as I live, I will love you… I promise you this… There is nothing I wouldn't give… From this moment…"

They smile into each other's hearts and souls as the intensity grows softer, but it is still heard just as clearly by everyone in the room.

Aneko sings to Koga as she reaches up to touch his cheek with her fingertips, "I will love you…" with Koga singing as he caresses her cheek, "I will love you…"

Aneko leans into his touch as she sings, "As long as I live…" before they both sing the last line beautifully, "From this moment on…"

After the last line is sung, everyone was so deeply affected by their hearts and words that there is complete and utter silence for the longest time until Negi snaps out of it and clears his throat which snaps the ones closest out of it except for Aneko and Koga who continue to just gaze at each other lovingly.

Negi clears says, "Ahem! Well, I think it is safe to say that the love of these two was well felt in their song-vow to each other. But some things still must be followed…" He looks at Koga and asks him if he wants to marry Aneko and Koga says, "Yes, more than anything else in my life!"

Negi looks at Aneko and asks her if she wants to marry Koga to which she answers, "Yes! I want to marry this wonderful wolf in front of me more than life itself!"

He looks around at the crowd and the small group of friends from both sides before he says, "By all the powers invested in me as the current leader of the Guardians and by our Guardian code, I now hereby pronounce you as husband and wife!"

Koga and Aneko don't waste any time and they wrap their arms around each other to pull each other into a deeply passionate and very loving kiss even as Negi says, "You may…ahem now kiss the bride." He ends up muttering, "Oh, what's the use with kids today."

Everyone starts to cheer at the announcement very loudly, and very quickly it becomes deafening within even in the Great Hall that they were in. Kagome was screaming her head off in her cheering along with Sango and Kaede. The guy's side was no slouch either as Miroku and Shippou cheered as loudly as they could but they were no match for Inuyasha as he cheered loudly for the new couple.

Eventually Koga and Aneko broke from their kiss to smile as big and proudly as they could. They both look at their friends who were cheering loudly and flash them a thankful smile before they turn and dash through the aisle, both laughing as they get a instant shower of rice which had been another idea of Kagome's hitting them and following them all the way to the doors which the Honor Guards quickly follow through.

After the happy couple is gone, Negi shouts even though his voice was feeling a little sore from all the loud cheering he had done himself, "Ok everyone… thank you for coming to the wedding and I certainly hope you'll all stay for the delicious food that we've all prepared in the other room."

Negi smiles at everyone before he says, "I also hope to see every one of you at the ceremony where Aneko becomes our new Queen with Koga as the new King! For those who have to leave, thank you for coming and helping to make this the best wedding ever in the history of the Guardians!" This gets a large cheer from the crowd for a few seconds before it slowly settles down.

* * *

**AN:** Well to everyone who's followed my story up to this point I'd just like to say thank you for being loyal readers. :) I am not ending story just yet, just thought I'd thank everyone of my cool readers. I've been thinking about doing a short honeymoon part followed by the ceremony in which they become royalty! I do have news though, the warm fuzzies will be ending shortly afterwards because what Kagraku and her sister did will be revealed soon and the future fate of Kagome will also be revealed! he-he, aren't I just evil? Nah, I'm kidding... I'm good.

To my first reviewer for the last chapter, Mika-girl102: As you can see... I used the dress color you mentioned. LOL!

Kairiyuna14: Thanks for your reviews and I hope you like this update. :) Keep watching for the action is going to heat up again soon enough!


	42. Coronation!

_**Story: Kagraku**_

_**Chapter 41: Coronation!**_

_**Story by Aero Tendo**_

It was one day after the wedding and both of the newlyweds looked more than a little tired but still very happy. Even Koga was smiling instead of his usual scowl that he usually wore upon his face, which made him look pretty tough.

Aneko was smiling at Koga who was returning the smile back at her even as Negi tried to talk to Aneko about the coronation plans. She was only half paying attention with her only bothering to memorize what he said but not really listen as she didn't want to stop looking at her new husband.

One of the other Guardians was trying to do the same with Koga and with about as much success as Negi was having with Aneko. It wasn't until the Guardian lost his temper and said, "Koga!" in a loud enough voice that it snapped Koga out of his gaze at Aneko that he got a response.

Koga was not happy with the harsh snapping out of what he was doing and the famous scowl along with his eyebrows furrowing returned as he growls lowly, "What is it Grind? I was listening!" He took on a posture that basically told the Guardian that he had to watch what he said as he was certain that Koga wanted to punch his lights out.

Grind says, "I'm sorry Koga, but I really need your input on the plans for your wife's coronation. Once this stuff is out of the way, you can spend all the time you want with her uninterrupted."

Koga glances at Aneko, liking the idea that he could spend more time with her without any more of these foolish interruptions. He looks at Grind and growls, "Ok, lets get this over with then..." and gives the Guardian his attention while Aneko does the same for Negi, for nothing other than to get the stuff out of the way.

_(later)_

Negi is standing around, waiting for someone to arrive and it isn't long before that person finally walks through the door. He turns and says, "Where have you been? The coronation is going to be getting underway very soon!"

Negi is facing a female Guardian and she says, "I'm sorry for being late, I was detained with something. I am here now though, so we can start now."

Negi says, "Ok, now your job during the coronation is going to be very important. You are the only remaining security member of any kind of rank left from that recent attack. I will need you to hold the most precious treasure that we have for the soon-to-be King and Queen before we present it to them."

She nods and says, "I shall not fail you. I will guard our treasure and everything will go smoothly at he coronation." She gives him a smile to show her confidence, which relaxes Negi, some but there was too much at stake and too many other things to worry about for him to completely relax.

Negi says, "Good, I want you to assemble a group of trustworthy Guardians and meet me here an hour before the coronation begins before we had over to where it is all going to take place. Please don't fail me Guardian Sergeant, Sessia."

Sessia bows and says, "I shall now fail you, the treasure shall reach our Queen and King without incident." She then straightens up and turns towards the door, pausing to say as she looks over her shoulder, "Just concentrate on your other duties and rest assured, that the Guardian treasure is in good hands."

Negi sighs softly and says, "I know I'm probably over-reacting but after that horrible attack, I feel like that they could be back. And we still don't know what their real objective was when they snuck in and nearly destroyed our entire security force as well as the lives of countless others."

Sessia says, "Don't you worry sir, you still have me and I am still on the security force." Before Negi says, "Sessia, you are practically ALL that's left of our original security force. I still find it amazing that you survived without injury amidst all horrible fighting."

Sessia says, "I guess I was just lucky. Now if you don't mind, I have some other things to attend to before the coronation."

Negi says, "Very well, but please be careful. I just can't shake this feeling that something can still go horribly wrong."

Sessia says, "Don't worry sir, the coronation will go smoothly and you'll have a new Queen." She then steps out and she grins as she thinks, "That old fool... he doesn't realize that his entire force was eliminated. This body was the only one spared because it was taken over so that Naraku's real plan could go into effect."

Sessia's eyes glowed briefly in a shadow during her walk in the hallway which showed a strange face with a sinister smile but once she entered the light, her face and eyes were once again back to normal.

Sessia continues to walk without anyone taking any special note, and why would they? To everyone else in the Guardian mountain, she was just another one of them and with the memories she had absorbed when she took over this body, she knew how to act around them so as not to draw any special attention to herself.

Sessia could still feel the Sessia trying to fight her somehow but her control was absolute, she knew that the real Guardian had about as much chance of regaining control as the security force did of springing back to life suddenly.

Sessia continued along her path, heading towards a place very deep in the mountain until she came to a point within where she saw two tough-looking guards and from the memories of Sessia that she had gained, she knew that they were very good fighters and one that she knew she shouldn't underestimate or her 'host' body would eliminated. The fake Sessia didn't think it mattered for she would just take over the body of another to complete her task.

Sessia comes to a stop before the two guards who had watched her every move with precision, looking for any signs of betrayal in her body language. The fake Sessia had used the real Sessia's memories to project a friendly, normal body language to the two.

Sessia smiles friendly-like before she says, "I am here to get the treasure to take to the coronation of our Queen and King." The silence is long and she begins to wonder if they somehow saw through her when the one on the left, whom she knew as Fallus finally, says, "You may enter Sessia, and I will escort you until you have come out."

The fake Sessia cursed within her mind while the real Sessia smiled and hoped for discovery as well as foiling whatever plans that the fake Sessia was hiding from her. Sessia smiles and says, "I am honored by the escort. I am curious though, is this because of the recent attack?"

Fallus looked down at her, which wasn't an uncommon thing since he was tall, even for a Guardian and very strong looking. Sessia also knew that despite his size, he was also very quick which had led to the downfall of many assuming he'd be slow.

The other Guardian Vacune, who wasn't as tall as Fallus but no slouch in the power and speed department himself says, "Negi has stepped up security ever since that last breach in case those creatures ever decide to come back."

Sessia nods in understanding as she says, "That makes sense, Negi is very wise."

Fallus steps aside and taps a few random places on the wall behind him before a unseen door quickly slides open and Sessia steps on through with Fallus falling in behind her.

For a few moments, the fake Sessia considered trying to eliminate Fallus but she figured that he was probably on guard even at that very moment. So she relaxed which, though she didn't know it, was detected by Fallus's keen senses but he kept his guard up still.

Sessia walks into the room with Fallus behind her and she sees the Guardian's most valuable treasure. The magic liquid to which they had all dedicated their lives to protecting for so very long and the real Sessia was unhappy to be unable do anything to stop the one who'd stolen her body. The fake Sessia smiled as the most valuable thing was finally in her reach and the next step in Naraku's plan would soon become a reality.

Fallus places his hand on her shoulder and says, "Stop, I shall retrieve the treasure for you."

Sessia nods and stays still, watching him as he retrieves the treasure with the utmost care. She watches how he pours the liquid into a very special container that the real Sessia's memories had never seen before but she had heard about. It was a container that while looking delicate was practically indestructible to all forms of magic or physical attacks and could only be opened if you knew how once it was sealed.

Sessia waits patiently for Fallus to finish, planning on taking him before he could seal it but then she senses another presence behind her moments before Vacune says, "I shall join the escorts to the royal throne room." His voice had a deep bass to it, which only helped to give one the impression of great strength and size.

The fake Sessia inwardly cursed, as she should have figured that it would not be so easy to get her hands on the most guarded treasure of the Guardians but she knew she would get another chance eventually for she would not fail Naraku. The real Sessia was happy that the fake would not be able to get her hands upon it and that there would be no bloodshed upon her hands as she had sensed the fake one's intentions before Vacune showed up.

They all leave the room and Fallus stops at the entrance, pressing the secret spot to close the door once more, sealing it. Fallus then hands the sealed container to Sessia and nods briefly to Vacune before Fallus stands guard at the door with Vacune falling into step behind Sessia with the guards surrounding her in an active, protective stance.

The real Sessia knew that before the attack, they would have been much more relaxed and contained her fellow Guardian friends from the security force but after the massacre, everyone was very keyed up and alert, ready for the first sign of trouble.

The fake Sessia knew that they were all watching for trouble on the outside but she knew that Vacune would be keeping an eye on her so she simply relaxed her body a little, hoping to lower his guard a little but Vacune was not one to do so simply because the object of his guard was to do so, he had far too much battle experience to let himself be fooled so easily.

Everyone continues to the throne room where everyone was all ready there. There were lots of Guardians serving as guards, even though as the fake Sessia probed the real one's memories, knew that most of them didn't really have much fighting experience as they were usually cooks or janitors or some other such duty where fighting was not the main focus of their lives.

Sessia decided that there was nothing she could do to get at the liquid in her hands anyway as it was in a container that she didn't even know how to access. Even if she could escape, there was no guarantee that even Naraku would be able to open it and she didn't want to fail him.

Sessia decides to let things happen as they may and look for another chance to do what she needed to do for Naraku as he'd given her several possible plans in case things didn't go smoothly, such as in this case.

Sessia comes to a stop several people away from the King and Queen thrones and it took all her strength not to react as she saw Naraku's enemies not far from her! Miroku and Sango were standing not far from her and she saw the others that had come with them around as well standing in the front row. There was no sitting room and there was no need for it was very packed that day.

Vacune was keeping a close eye on Sessia and something was rubbing his senses wrong about her, but he couldn't tell what. She acted and looked like her but something was different about her somehow and he had long ago learned to trust his instincts in matters like this so, even when he didn't need to, he kept an eye on her.

Suddenly music starts to play and everyone but Vacune directs their full attention to the reason. For coming down from some second story stairs, was the happily married couple! They each were taking separate stairs, as was the tradition for people who were about to become a new King and Queen.

Koga was dressed very sharply instead of his usual wolf battle armor and coming down the right side stairs to everyone who was looking at them. At the same time, in sync with his steps was Aneko coming down the left side stairs and she too was dressed very beautifully with her princess crown upon her head sparkling in the soft dancing lights cast by the many torches that danced under the waves of the music that was being played at almost deafening levels.

Behind Aneko was Kagome with the biggest smile you'd ever think you could see on a girl's face. She had been chosen by Aneko as was her right to choose a honor maiden to walk behind her and eventually stand close while Negi would perform the ceremony that would make her Queen.

Also behind Koga and to much of everyone's great surprise was Inuyasha behind Koga as he had chosen to also follow the same tradition as Aneko even though he didn't need to. Even Inuyasha had been greatly surprised when he had been asked but he agreed to since they were no longer rivals, and just friends.

Aneko wanted to wear black like in her wedding but the rules forbid it as they were quite clear that she was to wear the traditional ceremony Queen clothes even though she could choose her own clothes after the ceremony was complete, to wear whatever she liked. Still, she never looked more beautiful in the white, sparkling dress.

Koga was wearing the traditional King clothes as well since he didn't want to get off on the wrong foot with people who were about to become his subjects and he knew how important all this was to Aneko. Anything that mattered to her, mattered to him now for he loved her so very, very much.

The two of them reach the bottom of the stairs and turn to face each other, sending smiles at each other as they walk towards each other and their thrones before turning to face the crowd of people and receiving a cheer that was so loud and deafening that it even almost completely drowned out the music. This lasted only for about a minute before the crowd settled down.

Kagome and Inuyasha walked up to their spots at just behind the thrones and they each rest one hand one the throne, as was tradition. Both of them smiled though, with Inuyasha, it was more harder since he wasn't used to smiling so much or for so long and his face was starting to hurt.

Negi walks up to stand before Aneko and Koga, smiling at them with his most proud smile that he could manage and he was happy that the lineage would continue with many children if the way Aneko and Koga were stealing looks at each other was any indication.

Negi turns to Koga and says to him, "Will you will honor and abide by all the laws and traditions set forth since the founding of the Guardians. As well as honor all your duties as a King, doing what is best for your people and protecting them all. And finally, to love, cherish and faithfully stand by your Queen's side forever?"

Koga smiles, as he looks Negi right in the eyes unwaveringly before he says, "Yes, I do so solemnly swear. I swear that I will honor and abide all the laws and traditions set forth as well as serving and protecting all of my citizens to my final days." He turns his head to look at Aneko as he finishes, "I also do so solemnly swear to love, cherish, and faithfully stand by my Queen and my heart, forever."

Aneko smiles at Koga brightly and a tear escapes one eye to trail down her cheek, as touched as she was by the heart she could feel in his last sentence.

Negi then turns to Aneko and says, "Will you will honor and abide by all the laws and traditions set forth since the founding of the Guardians. As well as honor all your duties as a King, doing what is best for your people and protecting them all. And finally, to love, cherish and faithfully stand by your King's side forever?"

Aneko looks into Negi's eyes with happiness and says, "Yes, I do so solemnly swear to honor and abide by all the laws and traditions set forth since the beginning. I will also serve and protect all of my people to my final days alongside my King." She turns her head to look Koga in his eyes while smiling and says, "I most whole-heartedly solemnly swear to love, cherish, and faithfully stand by my King and my heart until the end of time."

Negi grins at the two of them before he takes the King and Queen thrones from Shippou who had wanted to help and turns to Koga first before saying, "As I place this crown upon your head, know that all its duties, privileges and burdens are now yours to bear." He places the crown upon Koga's head and then says, "You are now King Koga, long may you live and rule with wisdom and heart."

Negi then turns to Aneko and picks up the Queen's crown and says, "As I place this crown upon your head, know that all its duties, privileges and burdens are now yours to bear." He then slowly places it down onto her head right on top of the princess crown where it softly clicks as it becomes one piece before he says, "You are now Queen Aneko, long may you live and rule with wisdom and heart." He winks at Aneko as he glances at Koga to indicate that she should turn towards him.

Aneko turns towards Koga and Koga turns towards Aneko while Kagome cries from how beautiful everything is to her from where she is standing and can feel the love Aneko and Koga have for each other while Inuyasha just looks uncomfortable as he has a feeling that Kagome's going to be wanting to hug him or something after all this.

Negi takes their hands and puts them together, laying on top of each other. He says as they stare at each other, "You will now share a drink from the most valuable treasure in our possession, the magic water for which we all have fought and lost so many for." He then motions for Sessia to come forward and she reaches out, handing it to Negi before she steps back to stand beside Vacune.

Negi chants something as he moves his hands over the container in odd ways at the same time and to Kagome, the motions of his hands reminded her of the way one would solve a Rubik's cube from her own time and she briefly wondered if this was where it first came from. Once Negi was done chanting and his hands moving, the container opened and he turns the cap over where it becomes a small bowl-like thing.

Negi says, "As you both drink this, you shall be sealing your agreement before all Guardians of past, present and future to honor your vows. This liquid shall also bind you two forever as King and Queen for all time. As each of you drinks, your health shall be restored and your lives lengthened so that you both shall live long lives, longer than is normal even for us and can rule for as long as you two can."

Aneko and Koga both liked the thought of being bonded together and living their lives together for a very long time together, for nothing would make them happier.

Negi pours the magical liquid into the small bowl, filling it to the very brim before he says, "Please your majesties, lean and drink together at the same time."

They both lean forward as if in sync with their lips even touching the bowl as their eyes never leave each other's and they sip together at the same time while the liquid glows brightly. They continue to drink until there is no more liquid and they both glow as they lean back up, smiling at each other happily.

Negi was a little surprised as he'd never seen or heard of such a unified glowing effect from the magical liquid. It was as if they were soul mates or deeper somehow for it to make them both glow so brightly and for so long.

He knew that the longer and brighter it glowed, the stronger the connection between the King and Queen would become and since he'd read that it usually only lasted only 10-15 seconds on before it would fade completely. He was stunned to see them still glowing at a minute and still going. He couldn't announce them as King and Queen until the glow faded as per the rules and traditions set down from long ago.

Negi picked up the bowl-cap thing and placed it back upon the empty container, sealing it back up in case anyone thought of using any trace amounts from it. He watches as the time of their glowing, still going steady at now five minutes continued while they never took their eyes off each other nor let go of each other's hands.

Shippou looks up at Negi and says, "Are they supposed to glow for that long?" with Negi answering, "No… usually they glow for 10-15 seconds… not for minutes like they have."

The sound of them talking snaps the two of them out of whatever trance they'd both been in from the liquid and they release their hands as well as look away to look at Shippou and Negi. After 10 more seconds, their glow fades and both Shippou and Negi look at each other, wondering if their connection had been what was keeping them lit up for so long.

Negi steps up and takes their hands into his and then turns, raising them up into the air as he shouts loudly, "I GIVE YOU YOUR NEW KING AND QUEEN! LONG LIVE KING KOGA AND QUEEN ANEKO!"

Another more deafening cheer than the first erupts and it goes on for a long time. Even Kagome and Inuyasha were cheering with Aneko and Koga just smiling and glancing at each other, remembering how they'd felt when they had shared the liquid.

Sessia cheered as well, even though inwardly, the fake Sessia was very unhappy that she was unable to get the magical liquid for Naraku, especially after having seen what had happened for Aneko and Koga. She knew she would not stop until she had achieved at least one of Naraku's plans for the liquid.

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**AN:** Sorry this took so long everyone, but I'm terrible at making up new names. :D Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this one. I shall update Kagraku whenever I get the chance. Please review! If I get more than 2, I'll update faster. 

Mika-Girl102: Thanks for the review and the hints! LOL! I hope you like this extra-long chapter!

kairiyuna14: Thanks for the review! Please let me know what you think of this chapter!


	43. Sessia Strikes!

_**Story: Kagraku**_

_**Chapter 42: Sessia Strikes!**_

_**Story by Aero Tendo**_

_(Feudal Era in the mountain)_

Koga and Aneko were sitting in the throne room waiting for their friends to arrive. After the banquet party, everyone was very tired so it was agreed that they would all meet later on. Koga smiles at Aneko from his throne and reaches out just as she does and they hold hands for a few minutes before he says, "I appreciate that you're doing this for me Aneko."

Aneko smiles at her husband and king before she says, "Now how could I say no to you? Especially since your friends are my friends too?" She squeezes his hand for a few moments before she lets go just as she hears someone approaching.

Aneko puts on her serious, royalty face before a Guardian approaches and says, "The honored ones, Kagome and party have arrived."

Aneko nods to the Guardian and says, "Thank you, now please show them in."

They give one last smiling glance at each other before they put on their serious faces. When Kagome and her friends come in, they see Koga and Aneko looking very much like they belonged there already.

Kagome smiled a bit at the sight them up there and managed to keep quiet when all she wanted to do was tell the others exactly all her thoughts about how Koga and Aneko looked so cool up there and stuff. She didn't want to do anything like that on their first day as rulers so it put a lid on it for them.

Inuyasha had his arms crossed when he came into the room and when he saw Koga and Aneko sitting in their thrones, he stopped for a second. His eyes met with Koga's and then after a moment he resumed walking but with his arms no longer crossed as his sign of respect for the new leadership that they represented. He had never really liked the wolf, but somehow during all of their adventures, he had come to think of him as a friend that he respected. Inuyasha catches up with Kagome by quickening his pace until he is by her side with the others following in line as well.

Shippou was the only one not in line because as soon as he saw them, he ran up as excitedly as any kid would and says, "Hi there sis! What's going on?" He waits for an answer before he notices that she has on such a serious face and is looking at his friends who approach them. Shippou doesn't know what's going on but he knows enough that it is something big so he stays where he is and waits for everyone to come to a stop before them, with everyone filling out into a line before the King and Queen respectably.

There is a moment of silence with Shippou waiting a little impatiently beside his sister before Koga says, "Thank you all for coming. I'm sure you're all wondering just why we have summoned you as we have."

Shippou says, "I know I am!" in a low voice which gets a glance from Aneko before she looks to Kagome and says, "We have summoned you because we wish to properly thank you for all that every one of you have done since arriving here. Even though the Guardians met you in force, you never gave them any reason to distrust you and when the horrible enemies appeared, wiping out nearly our entire security force save one member. You all performed admirably by helping to save the mountain by facing them and driving them out, thus saving the remaining people within the mountain from a certain and gruesome end."

Koga gives his cocky grin before he says, "So, after talking it over for some time, we have come to an agreement on several things. The first is that you are all to be honorably made Guardians and thus always welcomed here whenever you like. That means you all will have a much bigger family very suddenly because everyone who is a Guardian is family to all within the mountain."

Everyone looks very surprised as up until now, they either didn't have family or much of any remaining ones left such as in the case of Sango who had lost everyone but her brother who was a prisoner of Naraku. Inuyasha didn't have anyone but his older brother as well. Even Soten didn't have any family that she knew of and when Aneko and Koga offered that she thought about how she wanted to one day marry Shippou and become a part of his family for real, she had to wonder if she accepted this, would she still be able to marry Shippou when the time came? She just had to know so she raises her hand and says, "Um... I have a question..."

Aneko looks at Soten and just barely smiles as she remembers the way that Soten keep eyeing her brother and figured she knew what the question was going to be. She says, "Yes, what is it Soten?"

Soten says, "Well... um, I was just wondering when you say family and all... does that mean we're really related?"

Aneko laughs a little before she says, "Oh, no... not in the literal sense. You won't really be part of the family until you marry a member, but everyone will treat you as if you already were because as Guardians, we help each other, support each other, and we when it comes to gifts... there are a ton of them." She sees the sense of relief in Soten's eyes as she explains things before she continues, "Just think of it more like being honorary family without actually being family."

Soten smiles and says, "Thank you for clearing that up." She looks at Soten who notices her look and it seems to be quite an gazing look that Shippou didn't quite understand but it made him blush without understanding why.

The exchange and blush was caught by Aneko and she smiled a little, hoping that when the times comes for them to marry, they'll consider marrying within the mountain and letting people host the ceremony. In the back of Aneko's mind, she was already going through ideas on how to make her brother's wedding even bigger and better than her own.

Inuyasha says, "Is there more to this?" as he got impatient and wanted to know what else they had planned for them.

Koga chuckles, "What's the matter Inuyasha? Is your curiosity bugging you?" This gets a low growl from Inuyasha before Aneko puts her hand on Koga and says, "Behave you two, I don't want to ruin the rest of our gifts before we can get to them with your fighting."

Koga smiles at Aneko and says, "Yeah... you're right, sorry about that." with Aneko nodding as she says, "No problem Hon, now lets get back to where we were."

Koga looks at Kagome and says, "Kagome, everyone came her because they care about you and wanted to help you. The very thing you seek is regarded as one of the most closely guarded and valuable treasure of the Guardians." He looks at Aneko who smiles as she nods and then together they say in stereo, "We have decided to let you have the water you so seek, and thus heal you Kagome."

Everyone is stunned at the announcement before Kagome clasps her hands together and smiles as she says in a happy voice, "Really?" Once they both nod in sync to Kagome, she jumps and wraps her arms around Inuyasha's neck to hug him tightly to her.

Kagome says, "We've done it Inuyasha! Now we can break whatever Naraku has done to me!" Tears flow down her cheeks and since her cheek is smooshed up against his own, they flow down over Inuyasha's as well.

Inuyasha doesn't know quite how to handle this but he manages to say, "I'm... happy for you Kagome." A part of his mind had gotten used to Kagome being so free in her thoughts with him and he liked it whenever she told him she loved him or kissed him, and not just because she was an incredibly good kisser. A part of him was worried about how Kagome will react to all that she'd done since this started and wondered how many "Sit" commands he'll get before she is satisfied. Still, he knew he'd deal with it and he knew he'd be happy to have Kagome back to her normal self.

Aneko smiles at the sight of Kagome crying joyfully and hugging Inuyasha before she turns to look at Koga and leans over to kiss him on the lips for a good minute before she reluctantly pulls back.

Koga clears his throat for a moment before he says, "So, Kagome we're having some of the valuable liquid brought to here and then you can be cured."

Sango says, "I'm happy for you Kagome." with Miroku nodding as he says, "As am I Kagome, this time has been long in coming for you."

Kagome is smiling so much as she thanks her friends for their words before something pops in her head and she says, "Inuyasha, before I turn back to normal. I want to ask you something."

Inuyasha says, "Yeah? What is it Kagome?" His face showing puzzlement on it as he wonders what Kagome would have to ask him at a time like this.

A moment later Sessia appears along with Fallus alongside her this time. They are at the door when the door guards announce, "The Guardians with the gift for Kagome are here." This captures everyone's attention as they all turn to look at Sessia and Fallus.

Sessia thinks, "I can't let this opportunity pass me up again!" She looks around and sees that unlike last time at the coronation, there is only Kagome's group, the King and Queen and the two guards at the door. She figured that she could handle them with ease and waited for a moment when Fallus' attention would falter. She used the memories of the real Sessia to know that such a moment would come very soon.

A moment later from the door, Fallus bows deeply with his eyes closed and starts to say something, when Sessia moves quickly and suddenly. She slashes upwards with her hand, ending whatever he had to say on his lips.

Since Sessia had been the one holding the liquid, she was able to turn around with surprising swiftness and after quickly stuffing it between her breasts, she was able to use both her hands to slash upwards into the two guards at the doors.

The two guards had fortunately been on their guard the moment Fallus fell, bleeding on the floor and thus was able to deflect most of her attack with their weapons but it she still was able to injure them enough to send them flying up against the wall behind them where they then crumpled like dolls to the floor. They laid there with blood leaking from their wounds even as Sessia laughed wickedly and ran through the door.

The moment Sessia was through the door she says, "Naraku will be happy to receive this..." and then she takes off very quickly, more quickly than she should have been able to do normally.

Inuyasha's excellent hearing picked up on Sessia's words and after the shock, which caused his eyes to go wide, they narrowed and he growled, "Naraku! She's working for Naraku!"

Everyone's in shock, but only for a moment before Aneko shouts as loud as she can, "GUARDS! STOP SESSIA! SHE MUST NOT LEAVE THE MOUNTAIN!" She and Koga get up from their thrones even as Inuyasha runs after Sessia with Kagome on his back and Sango with Miroku on Kilala's back. This leaves Shippou, Soten and his mother standing in the throne room.

Shippou tries to run after his friends but is stopped by his mother and when he looks up at her she says, "No honey, let them deal with this... Please stay with me?" Shippou had always fancied himself a gentleman of sorts so when his own mother asked him not to go, he looked at Soten who was looking a little unnerved by the whole thing and she seemed to need him too. He decided it was his duty to stay behind and protect the women in case that traitor doubled back or something.

Shippou taps his chest with his hand and says, "Don't you worry Mother, I'll protect the two of you with my life if that traitor comes back!"

Midoro pulls Soten and Shippou closer to her as she smiles softly and says, "Thank you my little man, I feel safer already." She hoped that Sessia didn't come back but at the same time she began to ponder about why Sessia was the only survivor in that terrible mess earlier until it struck her that the true purpose of the attack was to wipe out all the guards minus one, the very one who would have the best access to the magic liquid to which they all guard so that one would be able to grab it.

Midoro frowns as she says, "I wonder..." just ever so softly. The children who are very close to her pick up her words and Shippou says, "Mother, what do you wonder?"

Midoro looks down at Shippou and Soten's inquisitive faces before she says, "Sessia, I wonder if she's been taken over by a Burlesmonton." Shippou looks at his mother in confusion and says, "What's that?" Both of them are surprised when Soten says, "It is a dark creature that can take over all but the most strongest in sprit and mind. Once they're in they can use their victim's own memories to act until they accomplish whatever mission they were created to do."

Midoro looks very surprised at Soten and says, "How do you know about such a thing?"

Soten looks a bit sad before she says, "Because once, someone had created such a thing and sent it at my family. It wiped out so many of us before my oldest brother took it on when it had possessed the body of our father who was among the strongest of us and defeated him." Tears flow from her eyes as she tells her tale. She finishes by saying, "W-when it was all over... There was only the four of us left... my oldest sister who had tried to also take on father a my two brothers but she was so badly wounded..." She couldn't finish so she wraps her arms around Shippou and cries into his shoulder.

Shippou didn't know what to do so he simply wraps his arms around her and pats her on her back while his mother, Midoro kneels and wraps her arms around the both of them while soothingly whispering, "There... there... it is all right now... you're among friends."

Shippou says, "Yeah, you're with friends and you'll always be considered like family to us as well." as he continues to soothingly rub at her back.

Soten leans back with tears still in her eyes and she gazes into his eyes with questioning eyes before she says, "Really? I am part of _your_ family? We can be together someday?"

Shippou is confused by the questioning while Midoro smiles as she understands that Soten is asking if Shippou will be her guy someday." He looks to his mother for help and she nods to him so he then looks back at her and says, "Yes, and I will always protect you just as I would protect my mother and sister!"

Soten cries out as she wraps her arms around him again and rather than saying anything she cries harder against Shippou who looks up at his mother, wondering if he said the wrong thing.

Midoro smiles softly before she whispers to Shippou, "You said the right thing, she's crying now because she's happy, not because she's sad." This seems to be good enough for Shippou and he lets her cry against him for a little while until she finishes her crying.

Suddenly, they hear footsteps approaching and Shippou leaps to the front with his little foxfire in his hands as he says, "Stay back! I'll protect you both!" Midoro was readying her own powers to help protect Shippou and Soten as there was no way that she was going to let anything happen to the children.

Out of the shadows steps, Inuyasha as he says, "Hey Shippou, who are you expecting to hurt with that puny flame?"

Shippou's flame in his hand goes out and he yells, "Hey! You're just lucky it was you! I was going to really fire a big one in case it was that lady!"

Midoro relaxes and powers down her stuff as well, glad that it was Inuyasha and not the traitor even though she was pretty certain now that the Guardian wasn't really a traitor but a victim as well.

Inuyasha laughs before he says, "Yeah right! You couldn't hurt a fly with your flame!" which only stirs Shippou's anger as he yells, "I could too! I've hurt plenty of flies and even demons with my foxfire!"

Just then from behind Inuyasha, Kagome says, "Sit boy!" which makes Inuyasha kiss the ground hard. She then says, "Please quit picking on Shippou, Inuyasha! He's a prince now and deserves our respect!"

Shippou hops around and says, "Yeah! You heard Kagome! Show some respect!"

Midoro steps forward and says, "Kagome? What about the one who stole the liquid?" Her voice was soft but the undercurrent to it cut off any further arguing from Inuyasha and Shippou.

Kagome shakes her head as she says, "Sorry... it looks like she escaped. She must have been planning her escape for a while because she knew all the quickest ways to go. Not even Inuyasha could keep up with her."

Midoro sighs softly, "I'm very sorry to hear that Kagome. I don't know what this Naraku person has in store for that liquid but I bet it can't be good."

Inuyasha grumbles and says, "Yeah, you can bet on that. Nothing that involves Naraku is ever good."

After that there is no further talking until Sango and Miroku arrive with a squad of Guardians following closely behind Koga and Aneko. It didn't look good and no one was looking happy that a traitor had stolen off with the most magical and closely guarded treasure within the whole mountain.

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**AN: **Sorry that this chapter took SO long to write but I just couldn't get started on it for like forever! Well, now that it is up, I hope all my loyal fans are happy:) Please review! I love getting reviews! 


	44. After Her!

_**Story: Kagraku**_

_**Chapter 43: After Her!**_

_**Story by Aero Tendo**_

_(In the Feudal Era)_

Koga and Aneko looked on as Kagome and the others as they prepared to leave, with Inuyasha confident that he could pick up on her scent and follow her right back to Naraku.

Koga growls, "Hey Inuyasha!" which causes Inuyasha to growl back, "Yeah, what is it?" He walks up to Inuyasha and then says, "When you catch up to that traitor, try to keep her alive so we can decide what to do with her, ok?"

Inuyasha gives Koga a look for a moment before he grins and says, "You got it Koga." He then turns and picks up a bag of supplies that Aneko had insisted that they take as part of the thanks for their help earlier and as a way of showing that they are truly part of their family now and accepted Kagome and her group.

Kagome walks up to Aneko and says, "Thank you for everything Aneko, I'm just sorry that Sessia had to run off with your treasure but I promise we'll do everything in our power to keep Naraku from using it for whatever he's got planned."

Aneko smiles at Kagome and says, "Kagome, wherever and whatever you and your friends need, you've got it. Never forget that we've got your back and we can never repay you for the way that you've saved all of us from certain destruction at the hands of Naraku's creatures."

Kagome gives Aneko a big hug and then smiles back at her, "Thank you and I'll always think of you as the sister that I never had."

Aneko returns the hug to Kagome and smiles back before she says, "Thank you Kagome, that means a lot to me." She then walks over to her husband, Koga where she slips her arm into his and gives him a kiss on the cheek.

Koga smiles and returns the kiss right on her lips softly. He nods to Inuyasha who simply nods back in kind before he is nearly tackled by Kagome who wraps her arms around him in a happy way and gives him a sudden, big kiss on the lips!

Inuyasha is stunned as he feels Kagome kiss him with such joy, joy that he wasn't used to in his life and a part of him was really happy to receive such a strong feeling from Kagome who was a woman that he loved dearly.

Koga smiles at the way Inuyasha looks so dumbfounded and yet so happy at the way Kagome was kissing him before he looks at Aneko who gives him a happy, but sly smile that spoke of a secret message to Koga.

Koga moves his arms to wrap around the waist of Aneko. His eyes had never left hers when he had moved to take Aneko into his arms and when he smiles at her, she smiles right back before they slowly move closer until their lips meet in a kiss that is every bit as deep in joy and love as Kagome's kiss.

Koga slowly caresses his hands up and down Aneko's back even as she slowly presses herself more towards Koga as their kiss deepens.

With all the kissing going on in such passion, Miroku and Sango can't but help watch and glance occasionally at each other, catching each other's eyes when they do and then turning away in blushes.

Even Soten isn't unaffected by the sight of people kissing and she looks over at Shippou who looks a little bothered at the sight of his older sister kissing even if she was married. She looks at Shippou with a silent longing to kiss Shippou. She swishes her tail and walks closer to him until she is right next to him.

Meanwhile Inuyasha is wondering when Kagome is going to come up for air before she suddenly breaks the kiss just long enough to catch her breath and then resume kissing him!

Koga and Aneko are taking their time kissing each other with their hands lightly caressing over the sides and backs of each other, pausing just long enough to get some air every now and then.

Midoro looks at Soten and smiles a little as she can see Soten wants a kiss as well and wonders if Shippou is mature enough to let her kiss him? She crosses her arms and waits, watching to see what happens.

Miroku clears his throat and says softly to Sango, "Sango…? Would you like to join in on the kissing? It could be just like when we were under the mistletoe…" He gets the surprise of his life when Sango suddenly turns towards him and gives him a great big kiss on his lips that lasted only a moment or two but to him it seemed to last much longer for his brain didn't even realize she'd stopped kissing him until a few seconds after she'd broken the kiss and began to blush bright red.

When Sango heard Miroku mention the mistletoe, she remembered the kiss and acted upon impulse without even realizing what she was doing. She was kissing Miroku, just like she'd thought about doing ever since they had shared a kiss under the mistletoe. As soon as she realized that they were kissing, she broke it off and turned away so that he wouldn't see her blushing because more than just being embarrassed, she had really enjoyed the kiss! She immediately chastised herself because she had vowed to free her brother from Naraku and until then she couldn't allow herself to get distracted. But then, Sango wondered, why did she kiss him? Why did she enjoy it so much? And why was her heart beating so hard in her chest at the thought about kissing him again?

Shippou notices that Soten is getting awfully close to him and when he turns towards her to ask what she wants, that is exactly the moment when Soten chose to close her eyes and lean forward with the intention of kissing his cheek but instead their lips met!

The moment it registered for Shippou that Soten was kissing him, his brain went into overload and he was stunned but his hands seemed to be on autopilot as they moved up to rest on her hips.

When Soten realized that she was kissing Shippou not on the cheek but on the lips, she decided to milk it for all she could, thinking that she was never going to get another chance. She brings her arms up to his neck and moves just a little closer, pressing her lips more firmly to his as her heart beats hard in happiness as she had never expected this to happen to her!

Midoro smiles at Shippou and Soten's first known kiss to her and thinks that they would make such an adorable couple even if they were too young to get married at the present. She is glad for the way he is taking it though as she thought he would have pushed her off and called her gross or something childish but from her viewpoint it looked like even he was enjoying it. She didn't want him to enjoy it TOO much as they were far too young but she thought that first kiss would certainly help their relationship grow.

Midoro clears her throat at a low level that gets the attention of Soten and she breaks from the kiss to then blush red even brighter than Sango did after kissing Miroku.

Shippou looked like he was still trying to kiss her back before he realizes that she's not kissing him anymore. Once that happens, he blushes just as red as Soten does! They try not to look at each other but they can't resist peeking at the other and a few times they catch the other peeking!

Midoro almost giggles at the cute sight of them but is able to resist before she watches as they try to talk but fail before they can even get the first letter of the word out. It is finally Shippou that gets the first word out and all he gets out is "Soten…" before he clams up again.

Soten hears her name and looks up and that's when she sees him blush and become quiet again. She waits a few seconds before she says, "Shippou… I… Um…" but that is as far as she gets when his eyes look up and she loses her nerve.

Sango and Miroku notice what is going on with Shippou and Soten, so they take this as a chance to forget their own feelings and focus on the small demons. One look between each other and they are moving towards them in an attempt to help Shippou and Soten through their awkwardness.

Sango and Miroku walk up to the two kids before Sango says, "Come on you two... you can talk about this later. We've got someone to catch before Naraku can do whatever he's planning to use that magic liquid for."

Soten and Shippou look at Sango, looking grateful for the chance to get out of that embarrassing situation. It is then that Shippou says, "Yeah! We'll teach Naraku not to steal from the Guardians ever again!"

Inuyasha grunts and says, "Yeah, well I'll be happy if we can make sure that Naraku never does anything ever again."

Miroku nods at Inuyasha and says, "Yes, that would be the best course of action. Once Naraku is defeated, then everything he's done should cease to be." He looks at Kagome, hoping that without Naraku, whatever was affecting Kagome would cease to be before he looks down at his right hand where the wind tunnel exists.

Sango sees Miroku looking down at his hand and remembers a time when Miroku had asked her to come live with him, to have his children during their journeys together. Her heart beat quickly in her chest for a few moments before she was able to get rid of the thought and thinks, "There's no time for this... I've got to stay focused for the upcoming battle that we're sure to have when we catch up with Naraku." Still, it didn't stop her from stealing a few flirtive looks at Miroku, which he misses but the others of the group didn't miss.

Inuyasha says, "Come on everyone! We're wasting time just standing around when we could be going after Sessia!"

Everyone agrees so they all wave and say their byes as they leave the mountain. Before Inuyasha is out of sight Aneko says, "Do you think they'll be all right Koga?" with Koga nodding as he says, "Yeah, that mutt and his group have survived this long chasing after Naraku... and besides, I believe they are the best hope we have in finally defeating Naraku."

Inuyasha's sensitive ears hear the two talking and thinks, "Thanks Koga, Aneko... we won't disappoint you guys." before Kagome walks closer to Inuyasha and smiles at him. He looks at her as she smiles at him and says, "What Kagome?"

Kagome moves a little closer while still smiling at him before she says, "Isn't this great Inuyasha? We're traveling together!" Which makes Inuyasha look at her curiously before says hesitantly, "Um, Yeah… it is great Kagome." This makes Kagome take his arm into hers and she snuggles up closely to him before she says happily, "It always makes me so very happy to be with you Inuyasha!" while looking forward so she misses the look on Inuyasha's face.

Inuyasha is surprised by Kagome's words and his cheeks turn a little red, as he has to admit in his thoughts that he liked to travel with her too. He also hated for her to even be away from his side for even a day, which was why it always annoyed him whenever she had to go back to her time to go to school. He didn't see school as more important than getting all the jewel shards and defeating Naraku for good but he knew that there was a lot about her time that he simply didn't understand and he trusted her.

Inuyasha growls, "What are you all looking at?" at the others when he notices them all looking at the two of them with those annoying smiles on their faces. He didn't know why but their smiles unnerved him greatly and made him blush a bit though he turned his head so that they wouldn't see.

Kagome slides her hand down his arm to take his hand into hers and continues to look forward as she walked, not seeing how Inuyasha blushed again nor how he seemed to glance nervously at the others who had all put on their best poker faces, even though some needed a lot of work.

Midoro smiles at the couple when Inuyasha looks away seemingly satisfied that no one was going to comment about Kagome's behavior. She thinks, "They're such a cute couple. I wonder what she was like before this change that the others are so concerned about?" She thinks about it for a moment and then decides that Kagome probably hid her feelings more, just like Inuyasha usually did and hoped that when they change Kagome back, that she isn't **too** embarrassed by all the stuff that she did.

Midoro still felt guilty about not telling the others what she'd done but she had decided that to make it up to Kagome and her children who had taken a big liking to Kagome. She would do whatever it took to make amends and hoped that everyone wouldn't hate her too much it was all over.

After traveling for half the day, Inuyasha stops in the road very suddenly. Everyone stops as well and wonders what he is up to.

Inuyasha says, "I know that scent…" He starts to sniff around in the air for a few more moments before he says, "She's this way!"

Before anyone can ask which way to go, Inuyasha picks up Kagome and puts her onto his back and starts to run in a direction off the road. He shouts, "Hurry up before we lose her!" and he doesn't even look back to see if they follow.

Sango and Miroku get on the back of the giant cat before taking to the skies while Midoro, Shippou and Soten take off as quickly as they can. It becomes quickly clear that Shippou and Soten couldn't keep up with the speed so Midoro scoops up the children into her arms while still following the quickly moving Inuyasha!

Everyone eventually comes to a clearing on the other side of the forest where they stop where is seen to be sniffing the ground like crazy with Kagome standing by.

Shippou says, "Hey Inuyasha! What's the deal? Do you know where she is or not?"

Inuyasha growls, "Not now Shippou! I think she's trying to disguise her scent because I'm picking up another just like hers, but only different!"

Everyone was puzzled by that statement from Inuyasha, and so they thought about what he meant while they watched him circle and sniff like crazy for a good twenty minutes.

Midoro wondered if she could do something to help Inuyasha without giving away that she had more than just fox powers. She looks around at the field and thinks, "Now, if I wanted to throw off anyone trying to pursue me…"

She narrows her eyes as she notices a small stream leading to a small lake not too far from where Inuyasha had apparently lost the scent.

Midoro says, "Inuyasha, I think I know what she did…" This makes Inuyasha stand up and say, "Yeah? And what did she do?"

Midoro says, "Look over there, do you see that water?"

Inuyasha looks over to where she was pointing and he says, "Yeah, what about it?"

Midoro says, "I think she created a copy of herself using a kind of water clone technique that all Guardians know how to use."

Inuyasha says, "A water clone? What do you mean by that?"

Midoro says, "A copy of someone made by using water. In this case she copied herself and that's probably why the scent is hers but different. It probably smells like her all wet doesn't it?"

Inuyasha nods, "Yeah, I can pick up her dry scent and her wet scent equally strong. I thought she took a bath or something but they both seem to be from about the same time.

Midoro nods, "That's because she and her water clone were probably standing in about the same spot."

Shippou says, "So all we have to do is follow the dry scent and that'll lead us to the real one!"

Midoro smiles as she looks down at her son and says, "Yes, but we have to be careful. The water clone might still be around and the clones are just as dangerous as their creator."

Inuyasha grins as he says, "As if the original or the clone could ever be any match for the likes of us."

Midoro shakes her head, "I wouldn't be too cocky Inuyasha. I know of a story about a squad of Guardians being eliminated by the water clone and they could handle the original."

Shippou says, "Is the clone really that dangerous?" before she nods, "Yes, because they don't have to stay in the same form as the original does and their power is dependant on how much energy that the original put into it so they can even work from far distances if needed."

Kagome says, "How do you defeat a water clone?"

However, before Kagome can get her answer. She hears a chilling voice say, "Easy, you don't… they defeat you."

Everyone turns their head to see Sessia with an evil smirk on her face. Inuyasha says, "The water clone…" unnecessarily since everyone figured that the creator would be long gone, leaving the water clone behind to take care of them.

* * *

**AN:** Well everyone, it has been a while since I have updated this story but here's another chapter! As you can all see, there was a bit of fluff in this and I hope you all liked it:) Do you all think that the group can defeat the water clone? I am sure you're all wondering where the real Sessia is at this point! Trust me, you'll see her again. What do you all think of the story so far? 


	45. The Hunt!

_**Story: Kagraku**_

_**Chapter 44: The Hunt!**_

_**Story by Aero Tendo**_

_(In the Feudal Era)_

As Inuyasha pulls out his sword and feels it transform from the rusty, dull blade into a powerful, large and very sharp blade he moves out of habit into a protective posture in front of Kagome. He knew that under normal circumstances she would be pulling out her bow and arrow but ever since that little 'change' of hers, he didn't know exactly what to expect.

What surprises Inuyasha is Kagome getting an arrow ready and charging it up with her spiritual power. She then says, "Don't you lay one finger on my Inuyasha or you'll regret it!" as she pulls the arrow back just enough to show she means business.

Inuyasha thinks, "I should not be surprised but... I am. It looks like Kagome is going to fight for me." He tightens his grip on his sword as his own desire protect Kagome grows from just having her as his friend and companion to something much deeper.

Inuyasha's sword starts to glow a bit more brighter and stronger than before in response to his desire to protect Kagome who he loves but could never say. As the water clone attacks directly at Kagome, the sword glows a bright yellow almost equal to the glow put off by the way it looked when it transformed.

Inuyasha blocks the attack with a swing from his sword, deflecting the water-based attack to the side before he yells, "Back off! No one is going to hurt Kagome as long as I am around!" He stands before Kagome with his sword aimed at the water clone that looked at the two of them with an evil grin.

Just then the large flying boomerang of Sango's goes flying through the air and catches the water creature off guard. The attack slams it backwards and against a rock where it splatters but it quickly reforms back into its full form.

The water clone says, "You can not defeat me. I am too powerful for such attacks." The eyes of the water clone glows red before its form changes and poles of hard water rushes at everyone. The hard water attacks are blocked by Inuyasha's sword as it attacks them both while Miroku spins his staff but some of it still gets through to hurt him until Sango jumps in front of him and uses her large boomerang to shield him.

Sango says with concern in her voice, "Miroku! Are you all right?" She hears him grunt for a moment before he says, "A few flesh wounds but nothing I can't deal with, how about Sango? Are you ok?" She nods for a moment and says, "I'm fine Miroku."

When the hard water attacks Midoro, Shippou and Soten a powerful foxfire shield created by Midoro deflects the attacks. Shippou is amazed at his mother's power while Soten thinks Shippou looks very cute under the glow of the foxfire shield before she shakes her head thinking this is no time for admiring Shippou.

Midoro shouts, "Inuyasha, there IS a way to defeat the water clone but it won't be easy!" as her fire shield goes out but she keeps on guard in case the water clone attacks again. She then says, "If we can hurry and defeat this thing we shouldn't have a problem catching up because she apparently put a lot of energy into this thing!"

Inuyasha growls, "Then lets' defeat this thing and go capture her!" He prepares his sword when Kagome launches an arrow but the water clone changes shape to avoid the arrow, letting it pass right through where it would have struck.

Kagome says, "I missed her! Sorry Inuyasha sweetie!" which makes Inuyasha blush for a few moments and then grumble lowly to Kagome, "Please don't call me that in battle Kagome!"

Kagome nods and whispers, "Gotcha sweetie" just to see him give her an annoyed look which she returns with a "What did I do look?" of innocence which did not fool him for even a second.

Miroku throws some sutras at the water clone and she lashes out with water spikes which shred them in mid-air and Sango throws her boomerang into the air, slashing it perfectly in half before it could reform.

Miroku says, "Good work Sango" with a pleased tone in his voice and Sango says, "Thanks Miroku, now lets get after the original."

Midoro shakes her head as she says, "I don't think she was defeated that easily! Look out you two!"

Miroku notices that the water clone has reformed and grabs Sango, twisting her out of the way from a water spike that was aimed at her and get injured himself in the process. He says while trying to hide his pain, "Are... you ok... Sango?"

Sango hasn't realized that Miroku's been hurt and says, "I am ok, Thanks Miroku." She puts her hands on him to push off because he was still holding onto her when she feels something wet. She pulls back her hand to find blood, his blood on her hand!

Sango looks at him as she says, "Miroku..." with the sadness in her voice. She then looks at where he is injured and it didn't look good before she says, "Why Miroku...?"

Miroku says, "I thought... you'd know the answer...hah... to that question..nnngghh.. Sango... I love you." He then starts to fall and Sango catches him as she cries out, "Miroku!" She gently lower him down to the ground as the water clone says, "Don't worry, soon you'll be joining him. You **all** will!"

Miroku looks up at Sango and says, "Live for me Sango..." and her eyes start to tear up as she says, "Miroku, hang in there!"

Inuyasha being angry would have been an understatement at this point and he yells as he swings his sword down, "Windscar!" He sends a powerful blast at the water clone, which connects and throws it, apart but it manages to reform, a little slower this time as it was scattered everywhere.

Midoro says, "Inuyasha! I have an idea on how to defeat the water creature but we will all need to work together!"

Sango picks up Miroku and puts him on the back of Kilala and says, "Please protect him Kilala" before she gets a soft "Mrrrr" which she knew would be a yes from the large demon cat that was her partner who she'd had since she was a little girl. She knew that Kilala would not let her down and saw it take off to fly into the air and hopefully where the two of them would be safe.

Inuyasha says fiercely, "I can take her down!" as he feels confident that his new power boost is enough to destroy her. He swings his sword again, using the windscar but this time the creature dives into a hole in the ground and disappears from sight.

Shippou says, "Where did she go?" before Midoro places her hand over his mouth and says softly, "No one move! She might come up sooner and attack wherever we move to!"

Inuyasha and everyone stands still, watching and waiting for some sign where she might strike next. However patience was not one of Inuyasha's strong points so he says, "Everyone aim at where I land!"

Before anyone can argue he does a long jump, far from where anyone was and lands hard before leaping to a tree and landing softly onto a branch with his sword drawn and ready at the spot where he landed.

The ground under everyone's feet starts to rumble before the water clone erupts like a spike-tipped geyser right where Inuyasha had landed! It takes it only a moment to see that it had missed its target before also noticing it had walked right into an ambush!

Inuyasha and the others all attacked, as it seemed frozen on the spot. With Inuyasha's powerful windscar, Kagome's arrow, Sango's boomerang as well as Midoro and Shippou's combined foxfire and even Soten's weak thunderball attack. It appeared that they were going to win for sure!

That's when they were all surprised by the nearby river suddenly surging up and surrounding it like a big water shield. The water became so incredibly thick and fast moving that Sango's boomerang bounced off, and Kagome's arrow was caught in the current.

Inuyasha's windscar blew a big hole in the shield but otherwise failed to get through. The combined foxfire was able punch a brief hole in it so that Soten's thunderball could go right through and strike the water clone, causing it considerable pain to everyone's great surprise.

It was Kagome who figured it out almost immediately. She shouts to everyone, "Of course! She is made up of water! So she'll be weak against fire and electricity!"

Once this fact was figured out, everyone started to regroup near Midoro and the kids, as they were their best chance in defeating it. However, the water clone was not an idiot and quickly figured out what they were up to.

The water clone shouts, "Even combined, you don't stand a chance of defeating me!" and to prove its point, it uses some of the water from the river to shoot water spikes at Inuyasha and the others before they could get to Midoro and the kids.

The water clone then fires some water spikes at the kids when she sees how they others dodge her attacks. The attacks are blocked by a fire shield created by Midoro that turns the water into so much steam.

Soten knew what was on the line and she didn't want to let anyone down, especially Shippou who she would hate to see hurt or worse. She summons all her thunder power that she could safely manage even as Shippou and Midoro do the same. She had to admire the way their fire powers were in sync despite the obvious differences in fire summoning ability.

Midoro was pushing herself hard to protect her son and the young girl who she had grown very fond of in the short time she'd gotten to know her. She had more power that she could tap into but that meant revealing her secret to everyone and she didn't know if she could deal with that.

Inuyasha and Kagome end up side by side with Sango in front, using her boomerang's wide side to deflect most of the water darts that the water clone was shooting in hopes of getting through.

No words were necessary as they saw Miroku on the back of Kilala land safely behind all of them. Kagome powers up of her arrows while Inuyasha grips his sword, summoning all the willpower and desire to protect Kagome into the sword.

Shippou was eager to do his part and prove that he could be just as important to the defeat as everyone else and pushed himself to create a fireball as big as he could and in the end it became as big as Soten's which made him both pleased and somehow proud because they were both making something fairly big for their ages.

When the silent signal was given, Kagome and Inuyasha fired together in sync which blasted through the water defenses and created a big hole in the shield with Midoro's own fireball following closely behind and it struck the water clone, causing it much pain.

The water shield reformed in an attempt to block any further attacks but it wasn't enough when Shippou and Soten combined their fire/electricity attack so that slammed into the belly area of the water clone!

The water clone screamed very loudly with a water-like female voice in pure agony as the energy and fire coursed through its very body and shattered the water shield since it could no longer retain its focus.

The light show put off as the lightning part of the combo attack danced through every inch with the foxfire part of it making the body evaporate into steam. Essentially the water creature was destroyed from the inside and outside until there was nothing left of it, not even so much as a tiny puddle on the ground of the water creature!

Everyone cheered with the exception of Inuyasha, he just grunted happily before he turns to say, "Great job everyone! That's one water clone that won't be bothering us again!"

Shippou smiles at Soten and says, "Soten! I couldn't have done it without!" This makes her blush and look at him in the eyes as she says, "Do you really mean that Shippou?"

Shippou nods as he looks back and says, "Yeah! If you hadn't combined your ball with mine, I don't think we could have defeated the water clone! We were in perfect sync!"

Kagome, Sango and Midoro all saw the way Soten was looking at Shippou and they all had various thoughts but it all amounted to the same thing. They all thought it was very adorable that Soten had a big crush on Shippou.

Miroku could also tell that something was up between Shippou and Soten with the way she looked and how clueless he seemed to be since he was obviously feeling too proud from having just defeated the powerful water clone, ignoring the fact that it had taken everyone working together to do it. He may have been badly injured but he was not dying by a long shot and he had confidence that Kagome's future medicines could do their magic on him as they'd done in the past.

Soten looks at Shippou with sparkles in her eyes as she says, "Do you really think we made a perfect pair?" Even as Shippou crosses his arms and turns to the side in an attempt to look cooler and says while nodding, "Yes, I certainly do! The perfect fighting team!"

Soten smiles big and says, "Thank you Shippou! That makes me so happy to hear you say that!" She then quickly kisses Shippou on the cheek before blushing so red that her whole head was red before running off into the forest without another word, leaving a stunned Shippou with a hand on his cheek where she had just kissed him.

Silence follows for a few moments after Soten disappears from sight until Miroku clears his throat and says, "Ahem, I suppose... someone should go after her... and bring her back before she gets... into trouble."

Midoro says, "I'll go. The rest of you look after Miroku, his injuries look bad."

Kagome grabs the first aid kit from her backpack and says, "I'll treat Miroku. Will you help me get him down Sango?"

Midoro heads in Soten's direction while Kagome is bandaging Miroku even as Inuyasha watches and thinks, "None of us would have made this far without Kagome. She really is something else."

Inuyasha wonders about his newfound power increase for his sword and how Kagome is related to it as Kagome finishes wrapping up his wound and telling him to take it easy for a while just moments before Sango bonks him on the head for grabbing at her ass.

Inuyasha shakes his head as he thinks, "Same ol' Miroku, at least he must be feeling better if he's pulling such stupid stunts already.

Things were finally settling down and Inuyasha was impatiently waiting for Midoro and Soten to come back when his sensitive ears picked up something in the distance. It was a cry for help and it came from the direction where Soten ran off to!

* * *

**AN:** Well, I have finally updated Kagraku! Yay! What did you all think of the battle? Would YOU want to have to go up against a water clone? Any guesses as to what made someone cry for help? I am trying to write more but I've been sick for a while so that is why I haven't posted anything for a while now, that and my main pc is still more fried than a KFC chicken.

Next Chapter Info: Inuyasha and the others must race to where the cry for help was and hope that they aren't too late! What or who will they find? You'll just have to read and find out next chapter!


	46. Sessia Found!

_**Story: Kagraku**_

_**Chapter 45: Sessia Found!**_

_**Story by Aero Tendo**_

_(In the Feudal Era)_

The moment Inuyasha heard the faint cry for help he says, "There's trouble! I think it is Soten!" Everyone but Miroku was on their feet immediately. It took him a few more moments to get to his feet because of his injuries but once he was up, he was steady and ready for action.

Miroku says, "Then lets go Inuyasha, she might have run into Sessia or some other danger!"

Kagome hops onto Inuyasha's back and he says, "Ok, try to keep up everyone!" before he bolts quickly into the forest with her holding on tight.

Sango says, "Get on Miroku!" as she offers him a hand while sitting on the back of Kilala. He didn't argue as every second wasted meant another second of danger and on top of that he wasn't recovered enough to do any serious running that he normally would have been up to doing. So with the addition of Shippou joining them, all three took off into the air to try to quickly catch up but they knew he would have the advantage already.

Inuyasha was running through the forest quickly, before he decides to leap up and land on some tree branches, which he uses then to propel himself even faster as he leaps from branch to branch. With all the ground that he is able to quickly cover while carrying Kagome on his back and holding on tight so she doesn't fall off.

Inuyasha quickly discovers the source of the cry for help he'd heard. He lands on the ground quickly to discover her lying down on the ground and Kagome hops off his back to run over where she discovers Soten on the ground, unconscious but alive.

As Kagome tries to wake Soten to find out what happened, Inuyasha looks around and uses his nose to determine who could have done this and see if they were still close by. It isn't long before Inuyasha growls, "Sessia..." which makes Kagome look up at his just as Soten stirs, becoming slowly awake.

Kagome says, "Did she do this Inuyasha?" And when he nods with his hand on the sword, looking around very carefully she knows instantly that there was a good chance that she was still around and that he was looking for her.

Soten sees Kagome and suddenly snaps awake as she says, "S-Sessia! I saw her!" Kagome says calmly as she looks around, trying to see if she can spot her, "We know, Inuyasha picked up her scent."

Just then Midoro steps out and says, "Inuyasha! Kagome! What's going on? How is she?" As she looks at the young girl still on the ground.

Kagome stands up and says, "Sessia just attacked Soten, be careful! She may still be around!"

Inuyasha still had his hand on the hilt of his sword and says, "Where were you? You should have been the first one here!"

Kagome says, "Inuyasha!" before turning to Midoro as she says, "Don't listen to him, he's just being suspicious of everyone while Sessia is still on the loose."

Midoro says, "It is ok, I would be suspicious too. Who knows what trick Midoro might try next" she starts to walk towards Kagome and Soten before getting halfway there when a very familiar voice comes out of the woods from a different direction.

Midoro turns her head to look along with the other three as the source shows itself while saying, "I have heard that imitation is a form of flattery but in this case, I think it is an insult." The new Midoro steps further out into the light and glares just as the first Midoro glares in kind back at her.

Kagome's jaw dropped, as she couldn't believe her eyes! She could see that the two looked exactly alike! She is in total disbelief as she says, "How...? Which one is the real one?"

Soten says, "She pulled the same trick on me, and I screamed for help before passing out from the shock.

Inuyasha pulls his sword out, making it grow to become the impressive weapon that it was as he says, "This must be why she changed, because she must have known we'd come running and two of you here."

Kagome says, "But why change into Midoro?" with confusion on her face before it dawned on her and she says, "Unless she'd seen Midoro looking for her in the forest and decided to change into her."

Inuyasha nods as he shows he'd been thinking along those same lines before he says, "However she's doing it though, she has also managed to copy her scent as well so even I can't tell who is who."

The first Midoro says, "I guess I ruined your plans by showing up didn't I Sessia?" with the second one answering, "Funny thing, I was just about to say same thing to you."

With all the confusion, no one noticed a single one of Naraku's flying bug-spies in the trees. It sat down on a branch and watched as everything it saw was being shown in a mirror elsewhere.

Kagome says, "Inuyasha, what are we going to do? One of them is the real Midoro and the other is Sessia but we have no way of knowing which one is which!"

Inuyasha continues to look back and forth at the two of them for a few moments before he says, "I don't know Kagome! Even Soten was looking at the two of them with great confusion, as she couldn't tell which one was the real one any better.

The standoff goes on for a few more minutes until Kilala shows up with Sango, Shippou and Miroku who had a red handprint on his face. It was easy to guess that Miroku had rubbed her rear again since he was sitting behind her.

As soon as they land, Shippou hops off and is says, "Mom?" and then looks at the other Midoro as he says with even more puzzlement in his voice, "Mom?" He continues to look back and forth and says, "Will my real mom step out please?"

Midoro #2 says, "I'm the real one hon, and as soon as we defeat the copycat we can return with the good news to your sister." Before Midoro #1 says, "Don't you talk to my son you fake! We'll all be returning to tell her the good news of your defeat together!" They both growl at each other and then they start to approach each other slowly with their hands open and looking like they were ready to claw at each other.

Sango looks at the two as they approach each other, noticing that even their movements seemed to mirror each other, making it impossible to tell who was faking. She says, "What are we going to do Miroku? We can't attack without hurting the real one!"

Miroku seems to be watching the two of them carefully when he notices something, it was just a tiny thing and he doubted that anyone else would have noticed it since the rest of what were doing was so closely matched.

He wanted to be absolutely sure before he risked anything though. He was fully aware that not only was she a friend but also the mother of Shippou and the last thing he wanted was to be wrong and end up destroying the real one.

Meanwhile there was motion in the forest and it was moving quickly towards the spot where there was much confusion. The time was growing short for Inuyasha's group.

The two Midoro's growled as they stared at each other, throwing insults at each other but nothing too nasty since there were children around. Their tails flicked in anger, swishing side to side as they started to circle each other, getting ready for a match to prove who was the real Midoro.

The real Midoro circled the fake and thought, "She did a really good job if even Inuyasha's nose can not tell the difference between us." She knew that not even Sessia would be able to duplicate all of her abilities or powers perfectly but since no else, not even her children knew of the extra abilities that she had, Sessia would be able to be almost her equal.

The only thing she did have in her favor was that she was older, more experienced and thus more powerful as fox demons went but she was not sure about the powers of the one inhabiting Sessia's body so in the end she figured that whoever had the strongest secret powers would be the one to win in the end.

Miroku carefully observes the two Midoro's before he pulls out a sutra and Sango says, "Wait Miroku! We don't know which is the real one!" before he says without even looking at her, "Don't worry Sango, I have a plan."

The real Midoro starts to focus on creating a fireball and making it big with one hand as she powers up a smaller one right behind it and out of sight from the fake Midoro while watching the fake one create a fireball just like hers. She never had any doubt that she could since they were both fox demons and Guardians.

Miroku approaches the two Midoros before he then stops suddenly and points to behind Shippou who was standing next to Soten and Kagome where he says, "Is that Kagura?"

Everyone turns and moves as if to face the threat and when there is nothing there, everyone turns to look at Miroku in confusion. Kagome says, "Kagura was not there Miroku! What is going on?"

Miroku was quickly approaching the two women that looked like Shippou's mother with the sutra in one hand but before he could slap it on one of them a voice says, "That's because I am over here... Dance of Blades!"

Everyone looks in the new direction and Inuyasha moves in front of Kagome and the kids even as one of the Midoro's dodges the attack while the other throws her fireballs at Kagura, striking some of the dangerous blades of wind from reaching their destination.

Miroku throws his sutra at the Midoro that had dodged and just before it hit Kagura sliced it with one of her attacks.

The fake Midoro says, "What took you so long to get here? Do you have any idea what it is like to be in this disgusting form?" as it changes back into Sessia.

Kagura says, "Well excuse me... I can leave you know." This makes Sessia glare at Kagura and say, "You wouldn't dare, I've got the treasure from the stupid Guardians and I doubt Naraku would be very happy."

Inuyasha shouts, "Neither of you are going anywhere! Hand over the water Sessia!"

Sessia says tauntingly, "Or what? You'll attack me and destroy the treasure? This is your last chance to help Kagome and you know it!"

Kagura says, "Just what are you talking about?"

Sessia grins as she says, "Inuyasha and the others heard about the magical properties of the water and want it to see if they can return Kagome back to herself."

Kagura thinks, "If Kagome returns back to normal, then that evil sister of hers will cease to exist... That will be one less thorn in my side." However before she could think about it any further she heard the unique buzzing sound that told her that Naraku was coming so she abandoned any further ideas on helping and set out to help Sessia.

As Kagura did another Dance of Blades attack, Naraku finally made his appearance causing Inuyasha to yell, "Naraku!

* * *

**AN: **Well everyone, as you can see Sessia came up with a really good way to confuse our friends. Can anyone guess what Miroku noticed that everyone else missed? Now that Naraku has joined the scene, it is going to get even MORE dangerous for everyone! Any guesses as to what Naraku wants with the liquid yet? It'll be revealed in the NEXT chapter so don't worry:) Btw, I know Sango has a name for her big boomerang... but I keep spazing on how to spell it. lol!


	47. Battle with Naraku!

_**Story: Kagraku**_

_**Chapter 46: Battle with Naraku!**_

_**Story by Aero Tendo**_

_(In the Feudal Era)_

Inuyasha swings his sword, summoning the Windscar attack but Naraku is ready for it with his defenses blocking it. This makes Inuyasha even more angry as he growls, "Naraku, whatever you are up to, you won't get away with it!"

Sessia runs up to Naraku's side where he grins before he says, "You are too late as usual Inuyasha. I have what I need already." He holds out his hand into which a grinning Sessia places the vial into his hand.

Sango tosses her Hiraikotsu which is deflected by one of Kagura's wind attacks and when Miroku jumps, swinging down his staff, Sessia jumps up into the air and punches him where he was injured causing him to groan as he falls to the floor in a fetal position.

Sango cries out, "Miroku!" before she swings her Hiraikotsu hard, causing Sessia to jump away from him but not before letting Sango see the look of smug satisfaction at causing Miroku pain.

Sango gets to Miroku and sees that his wounds have been partially reopened. She manages to drag Miroku over to a tree that offers some shelter and tells Kilala to watch over him, which she agrees to do with a soft "mew." She then returns to the fight with her sights set especially on Sessia.

Inuyasha charges Naraku and says, "You are not getting away, not this time Naraku!" and then his sword connects with the shield protecting him, causing him to leap back. He changes the sword to a bright bloody red state, which Naraku recognized from before and laughs as he says, "That trick won't work on me Inuyasha."

Inuyasha shouts, "We'll see Naraku!" He looks back and sees Kagome readying her arrow before he looks forward and gets ready. He waits the amount of time he can count on Kagome before she would fire and does a red-tinted Windscar when he shouts "Barrier Scar!" which becomes mixed together with a arrow from Kagome.

This seems to surprise Naraku as he apparently had been expecting for them to wait for some audible clue, not work together so in sync with each other especially with Kagome in her supposedly unstable state.

The attack by either alone would have been powerful but one that Naraku could deal with, however even Naraku was surprised that Inuyasha could do a barrier-breaking Windscar since that had never been done in any previous battles or any that he had observed with Inuyasha's other battles.

So when Kagome combined her attack with Inuyasha's the glowing tip of her arrow enhanced the swirling red power of the Barrier Scar from the sword. The effect was devastating as it smashed even Naraku's most powerful shield that under normal circumstances would have been able to withstand even the backlash wave.

Sessia and Kagura were also within Naraku's shield and so when Sessia saw it fall, she did what any mindlessly loyal servant of evil would do... She protected him by creating a fire shield with herself in front of him.

However, even the strong foxfire shield proved to be not enough against the combined power of Kagome and Inuyasha but it did buy some time for Naraku to come up with a plan.

Sessia seemed surprised that even her power was not enough to deflect their combined assault and prepared to move out of the way when she felt Naraku's hands grab her and toss her directly into its path.

Sessia screamed as the powerful blast assaulted her while Naraku moved out of harms way. The blast had become weak enough that it did not destroy her but it had freed her body from the control of what had taken over as it vacated her body as she was being struck, assuming that she would be destroyed.

The creature had been wounded itself when it got caught partially in the attack but it managed to escape into one of Naraku's buzzing demons before flying away to high into the trees and safety.

Sessia groans in pain, "At last... I am free... of that..." before Midoro runs up and says, "I got you now, you little..." She stops when she notices something was different about Sessia and it is confirmed when Sessia says weakly, "I am free now... Thank you everybody..."

Midoro looks down at the weak Guardian and says, "I am glad you are free." She can tell that the wounds are very serious. She starts to pick up Sessia when she says, "W-wait... Naraku... plans to destroy...huhhhh... Kagome with...hhhhnnnn the treasure. Stop him. I am sorry... I tried...I tried to... fight... but she was too... strong."

Midoro says, "Shush, Save your strength. Everything is going to be ok now." as she tries to stop some of the bleeding but there were so many injuries and she'd lost so much blood.

Inuyasha says, "What are you doing? Why are you trying to save her?" before he gets close enough to smell her and then says, "Her scent's changed. Did it leave her body?" to Midoro who simply nods while trying to focus on keeping Sessia alive.

Sessia weakly says, "T-tell them... I was no traitor... never wanted... to do any of... what I did...please promise me?"

Midoro nods and says, "I promise but you can tell them yourself. Just hang in there."

Naraku coldly says, "Inuyasha, once I leave here your friend Kagome and then the rest of you will be destroyed."

Inuyasha growls, "Then it is no problem, because I am going to destroy you right here and now Naraku!" He grips his sword and then jumps to swing his sword down hard at Naraku who pulls out his own sword and blocks it.

The two powerful figures struggle to push the other back, neither gaining nor giving an inch. Inuyasha growled in frustration as he kept trying to push harder while Kagome was trying to get a bead on Naraku without hitting Inuyasha.

Kagura had disappeared to somewhere and Sango was still tending to Miroku. In short, it was a very dangerous stalemate.

Naraku looks darkly at Inuyasha and says, "You can not defeat me Inuyasha and even Kagome doesn't have even power by herself to defeat me even if she could fire her arrow at me without hitting you."

Inuyasha growls and says, "Kagome! Don't worry about me! Shoot Naraku when you can!"

Kagome shouts, "No Inuyasha! I won't risk destroying you! I love you!"

Naraku looks surprised and he says, "Kagome? Loves a mutt creature like you?" He laughs loudly and cruelly at Inuyasha for a few minutes which makes Inuyasha's mixed blood boil in pure rage.

Inuyasha manages to push harder, surprising Naraku with his strength causing him to narrow his eyes in a calculating way at Inuyasha even as he finds himself giving slightly at Inuyasha's strength. Finding himself at a disadvantage, even in the slightest bit, made Naraku angry, as he did not like Inuyasha who'd been his biggest obstacle ever since he was "born" so to speak.

Miroku moans softly and Kilala looks at him, looking worried even as Sango looks around for Kagura since the creature in Sessia had escaped. Sango knew that Kagura would not be far while Naraku was on scene, because if she didn't behave then there was a chance that she would be destroyed as her punishment.

Kagura was up in the tree where she'd flown up to avoid most of the battle. She was simply content to watch in secret and hope that Naraku was destroyed by Inuyasha and Kagome so that she could become free.

A low buzzing catches her attention and it seems like one of Naraku's little spies decided to stray from the main group. Kagura figured it was probably out to look for her so she supposed that she had a real reason to get involved in the fight now.

Kagura sees that Sango was not looking and no one else was in position to see her so she hops down right behind Sango very quietly with her own back to the tree that Miroku and Kilala were hiding behind.

Neither Miroku nor Kilala could have seen Kagura because of the tree blocking the view. In fact, the only one who did see Kagura was the one person Kagura would have least expected to even be able to do anything about her, and that was Sessia!

Sessia was on her back with Midoro over her, trying her best to heal her but the attack had been so powerful that it would be very close to a miracle if Sessia survived.

Sessia knew that she was fighting a battle and that she could possible lose it at any given moment but when she saw Sango in danger, she knew that she couldn't let Naraku and his scum win. She knew she could not do anything to help against Naraku or the creature who took over her body but she would make sure that if anything came of this battle, it would be to save the life of another even if it cost her, her own life in the process.

Midoro notices that Sessia was beginning to struggle, to try to move and she gently presses against her as she softly says, "No... don't try to move. You'll only make it worse for yourself. Save your strength."

Sessia shakes her head and says weakly, barely above a whisper, "N-oo, look out!" before she reaches out with her hand past Midoro who was still trying to hold her still. She closes her eyes as she focuses the remaining strength that she had into her foxfire power.

Kagura grins as she thinks, "Finally! I'll be able get rid of one of these annoying pests once and for all!" She opens her fan and prepares to strike just as Sessia opens her eyes and thinks, "Somehow... I have to make it up... for all that I did..." before she then fires her foxfire from her hand right at Kagura!

Kagura was in mid-summoning of her attack on Sango when the foxfire attack struck her from the side, catching her clothes on fire and burning holes in it very quickly! She cries out in pain as she tries to move out of the way from the rest of the flames to avoid any further injury.

Sango turns around quickly at the sound of Kagura crying out in pain and watches as she sees the demon woman try to put out the flames by hitting them with her fan. The sight of it was just so... well, ridiculous to her in its own way.

Kagura finally puts out the foxfire flames, leaving everything from her waist down practically unscathed. The upper half was a different story though. Only half of her long sleeves and parts of her collar existed on her, leaving her completely naked underneath with the spider scar on her back showing easily.

Miroku would have probably enjoyed the sight of a topless Kagura had he still not been unconscious, a small thing that Sango was grateful for.

Kagura was anything _but_ happy with the situation where she was topless and crosses an arm over her chest while looking around for some way to strike back at the others when she sees Miroku and shouts, "Dance of Blades!" sending an attack at Miroku before Kilala jumps in front of him and takes the blow.

Sango shouts, "Kilala!" before she growls angrily and throws her boomerang at Kagura who deflects it with a wave of her fan even as she walks over to where Miroku laid helplessly.

Kagura points her fan at Miroku's neck and says, "Back off! Unless you want me to finish your little friend here right now!"

Sango catches her boomerang and then says, "Kagura, if you harm Miroku I'll make you pay!" The tone in her voice was dripping with venom at the topless woman.

Kagura narrows her eyes at Sango and says, "Your threats are of little interest to me, so back off unless you want his head to roll!"

Sango takes a careful, slow step back or two, keeping ready for a chance to dash forward and use her swords on the demoness. She takes a careful look at Kilala who is still laying on the ground, wounded but obviously still alive as she can hear her make small, painful whimpers every now and then.

Sessia says weakly, "I am sorry… I did the best I could… I don't… think I'll be making it…home anymore." She closes her eyes and Midoro knows there is one last thing that she could do that might help the situation so she focuses her attention on her snake and it glows, even as Sessia fades, her foxfire starting to consume her body.

Sessia's body turns into a flame and disappears even as the snake engulfs the fire with its open mouth and then slides into the grass where it disappears.

Naraku didn't miss the snake sliding into the grass and he says to Midoro, "So you've made your choice, Midoro… very well. Do they know the truth about what you did? What you are?"

Inuyasha growls, "What are you talking about? She is a friend and Shippou's mother! You leave her alone!"

Naraku's eyes flash a red light for a moment before he says, "How little you know your allies, Inuyasha. Perhaps you should ask her how Kagome was bitten and had her dark side removed."

This makes Kagome and Inuyasha pause in their attacks to look at Midoro to see if there was any kind of truth in his words. They see her looking very sad and hesitant, as if she was trying to hide something.

Naraku uses that moment to take to the sky and when Inuyasha yells up at him, "Curse you Naraku! You're not getting away! Not this time!" But Inuyasha's regular Windscar attack is deflected by the shield that he creates around himself when Inuyasha tries to knock him out of the sky.

Naraku says, "Come along Kagura, we have what we need. It is time for us to go."

Just then, the snake appears out of the grass and blasts some foxfire right at Kagura, sending her backwards and into the tree behind her. She screams in pain before she creates a mini-tornado to blast the flames out.

Kagura didn't see any more reason to stick around so she grabs one of the feathers from her hair and takes off in a huge gust of wind up into the air.

The snake dives back into the grass even as Inuyasha says, "That's the same snake that bit Kagome!" Before he can attempt to locate it, it is seen flowing up Midoro's body even as tears go down her cheeks to drip off her chin and land on her knees since she was still kneeling by Sessia's body.

Inuyasha growls, "Midoro! Tell us what's going on! Who are you? Are you really Shippou's mother? How do you know Naraku? Tell us!" He waves his sword around threateningly until Kagome and Sango both get in front of him.

Kagome says, "Calm down Inuyasha! We won't get any answers if you harm her!"

Sango also says, "Yes! And she's helped us so much already! She even saved Miroku just now! I say we owe it to her to hear her out without the threats."

Midoro looks at them before she bows her head and closes her eyes, "Thank you… but once you know the whole story, you may want to let Inuyasha destroy me anyway."

At that point, Inuyasha just grumbles and sheathes his sword, knowing that she wasn't going to be any kind of danger. He could tell she had totally surrendered to whatever fate was in store for her.

* * *

**AN:** Well, after several and I do mean that literal attempts at writing this chapter. I feel I am finally ready to post it. The last few times I got about halfway through it, my computer would for unknown reason decided to CORRUPT the document! Leaving me with a loss of a whole lotta work! I must have lost the chapter like 4-5 times! Seriously! Anyway, what do you all think so far? Yeah, her secret is out but there is more to the secret than even all you loyal readers are aware of! Stay tuned to the next chapter to learn ALL about it! Will Shippou lose a mother after getting her? Will Naraku succeed in his finalizing his plans for Kagome? And I do mean FINAL. What will become of Sessia? All this and many things to come as I head down the path to the end of this story! Yay:) 


	48. Secrets Revealed!

_**Story: Kagraku**_

_**Chapter 47: Secrets Revealed!**_

_**Story by Aero Tendo**_

_(In the Feudal Era)_

Inuyasha was not very happy and it was no small wonder why. He'd just finished his battle with Naraku and watched Sessia go the way of all fox demons go when they expire. But to learn that a member of his party had actually _worked_ for Naraku and was the cause of Kagome's condition!

It was all proving to be too much and it was fortunate for Shippou's mother that everyone was keeping him away from her or he would have done away with her already!

Midoro simply stayed where she was, putting up not a single ounce of resistance and had said nothing other than, "I'm sorry everyone. I wouldn't blame all of you for hating me. It was because of me all of this happened. Please do as you wish, including destroying me if that is your wish."

Kagome shakes her head and says, "Don't be silly! You are Shippou's mother! Even if you did work with Naraku, it doesn't mean you're evil. I bet you were tricked into doing his dirty work just like others."

Midoro nods, "He did trick me in a sense but I am also the one responsible for your doom Kagome. He used me to create an evil version of you Kagome and now that he has that the magical water, he can use it to make her totally evil and eliminate the good Kagome."

She sighs before continuing, "At the time, I was just another person who was hired to do Naraku's bidding. He had something I wanted and at the time, I did not know that my son was in the care of such kind people. I am sorry that I didn't tell you sooner that I was responsible, but I was afraid that this would happen."

Midoro looks right at Kagome, "I wouldn't blame you if you hated me for attacking you and draining you of your dark side. To be honest, I am surprised that you survived the attack for most people are not strong enough to survive such a thing."

Kagome smiles softly, "I survived because I had good friends and some strong medicine to help heal me with."

Inuyasha grumbles and then says, "Come on, she's got to be destroyed! She helped Naraku!"

Kagome frowns for a moment as she says, "Inuyasha! This is Shippou's Mother!"

Shippou comes up and says, "Is it really true? You helped Naraku to hurt Kagome?"

Midoro looks at her son and then at Soten who was beside Shippou before she nods and says, "Yes… and now your friend Kagome is doomed because of me." Tears flowed down her cheeks to her chin where they fell to the soft ground below.

Now Inuyasha may be a bit of a hardheaded person, an idiot sometimes, and even a bit mean (usually to Shippou) but it didn't mean that he was without a heart. He found himself feeling a bit sorry for the crying woman before him, as that was one of his weaknesses.

Inuyasha thought, "Great… I can't stand when a woman cries. I guess I got to ease up on her. She is trying to apologize after all, I guess."

Inuyasha leaps up into the air, jumping over the others and landing right in front of Midoro with his hand on the hilt of his sword. He leans forward to look at her right in the face and with her so close, he could not only see that the tears were genuine but his nose picked up her scent that she didn't expect to be forgiven for what she'd done.

Inuyasha growls as he says, "There is only one thing left to do, you know that as well as I do… right?"

Kagome cries out, "Inuyasha! You can't!"

Inuyasha says, "That's right!" He straightens up and turns to the side as he keeps his head facing towards Midoro, "She's just going to have to come with us and help us defeat Naraku!"

Now those words were the absolutely last thing that **anyone** had expected out of Inuyasha's mouth at that moment.

Inuyasha turns back to Midoro with a grin as he says, "Come on, if I had to strike down everyone Naraku tricked or used in some way against us. I would never get any rest! Besides, he's tricked or used all of us at one point or another, so it ain't no big deal!"

He locks eyes with Midoro and says, "Just promise that you're not still working for him and that you'll help save Kagome. After that, you can join us and maybe we can defeat Naraku once and for all!"

Midoro simply could not believe it! Was Inuyasha truly forgiving her and giving her a chance to make it up to all of them with something other than her life? She thought, "No… he's giving me my life back to make it truly count because now I have more than I ever thought to live for…" She thinks about her two children, and how she didn't want to end her life yet. She wanted to watch Shippou grow up and maybe even one day choose Soten as his wife.

With the realization that Inuyasha was forgiving her and asking her to make the best out of the rest of her life with her children, she looked up at Inuyasha with very grateful eyes and knew in her heart she would not disappoint him or her children ever again.

Midoro nods and says, "Y-Yes… Thank you Inuyasha." The tears flowing down her cheeks heavily once again but this time they were tears of joy and relief. She moves over to Inuyasha and gives him a hug, crying hard into his shoulder as she says, "Thank you… Thank you… Thank you… I won't disappoint you Inuyasha."

Inuyasha didn't know what to do when she started to cry against him and even though he tried to shrug her off at first, he found her grip on his robe too tight. One look at the others told him to simply take it since Kagome was crying as well. Even Sango looked very touched from where she was and Shippou was hugging his mother's leg crying and thanking Inuyasha for sparing his mother.

Soten was crying as well along with Shippou since they were both kids after all and she knew, if anyone just how badly it would have hurt to lose someone since she'd already lost just about everyone in her family. She did not want someone who she cared about, the woman who'd she come to see as a mother figure in place of her own long-gone mother be hurt or destroyed and the fact that she'd been spared overwhelmed her emotionally.

Inuyasha just stands there, wishing he knew what he'd done wrong to make so much crying all the while not realizing that he had done something right. Time passes and even though it had not been really all that long, with all the tears the time had seemed like forever to him. So when he gets a chance, he gets away from the scene by leaping up into a tree.

Kagome says, "Inuyasha! Come back down!"

Inuyasha shakes his head and says, "No way! Not until I know everyone is done crying all over me!"

At those words from Inuyasha, everyone realizes what was bothering him and just bursts out into laughter, all of which does nothing more than to confuse him at first and then really irritate him.

Inuyasha growls, "Quit laughing everyone! What's so funny?"

Midoro is the first to stop laughing and says, "Come on down Inuyasha, I promise I won't laugh or cry at you any more. We all won't. Right everyone?" She looks around as everyone stops laughing and they all come to nod in agreement.

Inuyasha looks down at everyone from the tree for a few more moments before he decides to come down. Once down he says, "We better go after Naraku before he can escape!"

Midoro says, "I know where he is going... There is only one place he can go to use the liquid to destroy Kagome with certainty."

Inuyasha is surprised at this chance to finally get ahead of Naraku for a change and says excitedly, "Where is Naraku going?"

Midoro knew that she was about to tell a Guardian secret but if Naraku was going there already, then he would already know somehow. She figured that she owed Inuyasha for sparing her life so she was not going to hold back.

Midoro turns and points into the forest and says, "He is going to have to go to the only place where it will have the most effect. There is a cave in a mountain not far from here and in it is a magical item in it that we use for destroying things that are possessed or split. If the dark Kagome is taken there along with the liquid he now has in his possession, he will be able to destroy her since it will see the dark Kagome as the true, pure being and destroy the impure no matter where she may be."

Inuyasha kneels and Kagome climbs onto his back before he stands up and says, "Then let's go! Naraku's already got a good lead and we've got to stop him from hurting Kagome!"

Midoro shouts, "Wait Inuyasha! I know a shortcut that only people who have been royalty would know. We use it whenever security is busy with the main entrance and for royal ceremonies."

Inuyasha says, "Lead the way the Midoro! Let's go, I don't trust Naraku to not have found out about that way as well!"

Midoro nods and after taking Shippou and Soten with her, she takes off quickly. Sango takes Miroku with her on Kilala's back and with Inuyasha following Midoro closely, they all move quickly through the forest until they reach the back of the mountain.

Inuyasha sees nothing but a mountain before him and says, "Did we take a wrong turn? I don't see any entrance!"

Midoro smiles and says, "Of course not, if it was plainly visibly then no one would take the more guarded entrance, would they?"

Shippou says, "That's Inuyasha for you, never using his brain..." which makes him angry and he shouts, "What'd you say? Do you care to repeat that to my face Shippou?"

Midoro gives Shippou a stern look and says, "Shippou! That was a very rude thing for you to say! You apologize right now!"

Inuyasha blinks, as he wasn't used to someone apologizing to him, as he usually ended up fighting with Shippou until Kagome had enough and said the dreaded "Sit" command, which would end it with his face kissing the ground, hard.

Shippou resists until his mother says in a voice any child would recognize, "Shippou... you apologize for being rude, this very minute!"

Shippou looks at Inuyasha and says in a half-hearted way, "Sorry Inuyasha... I didn't mean it."

Inuyasha says, "Thank you Shippou, about time you apologized to me for a change."

Kagome says, "Inuyasha! Behave now, Shippou apologized and you don't need to make things worse!"

Inuyasha looks at Kagome and for a moment says nothing before saying, "Ok Kagome…" He turns to look at Midoro and says, "Where's this entrance? We need to get in before Naraku reaches it!"

Sango nods and says, "I agree with Inuyasha, the longer we delay, the more likely that Naraku will be able to hurt Kagome."

Midoro walks up to the mountain and smiles as she says, "Shippou, please pay attention because you will one day need to know about this secret entrance."

Shippou looks confused but nods to his mother and pays attention like he was told to so he didn't miss when she presses not only her hands but also her tail in specific spots on the mountain.

Once she steps back the mountainside glows briefly as if a powerful spell had just been lowered and the walls fade until a lit tunnel is revealed.

Midoro frowns for a second and then says, "Naraku's moved faster than I thought…" in a soft voice.

Inuyasha says, "What do you mean? What's going on Midoro?"

Midoro says, "I mean that the tunnels are _only_ lit when there is already a presence in the caves. They light up magically so as to light the way for anyone inside who might want to leave this way, it doesn't matter if the person inside knows about the secret passage or not."

Sango says, "What about the guards? Wouldn't they cause them to light up as well?"

Midoro shakes her head, "No, they wouldn't enter the caves. They are expressively forbidden to do so and on top of that, they are the only exception to the lighting up so as to sneak up upon the enemy."

Inuyasha says, "Well then we've got no time to waste! We have to go before Naraku beats us!"

Midoro nods and says, "I agree but maybe the kids should stay out here with Miroku?" She looks at the injured monk with Kilala and the giant demon cat simply rowrs softly as if to ask, "Yeah, what about him?" to Sango.

Sango didn't want to risk more harm to the unconscious monk and while she knew she could trust Kilala to look over him. She also didn't want to leave him alone and Naraku was a dangerous foe.

Sango says, "Maybe the kids should stay with Miroku."

Inuyasha was impatient, as he really wanted to get Naraku before he could harm Kagome and escape. He says, "Fine! The kids stay here. Let's get going already! Naraku might be setting up to hurt Kagome!"

Sango says, "I'll stay here with Miroku and the kids, go and stop Naraku!"

Inuyasha picks up Kagome and says, "Let's go!" before he dashes ahead without waiting for an answer with Midoro following quickly even as new eyes spot the others going in with Sango, Kilala and the two kids totally unaware of the new eyes.

* * *

**AN:** Well everyone,some secrets were revealed but not all of them. Naraku has a lot up his sleeve and if you don't believe me, just remember what kind of clothes he wears... he could hide a truck in that outfit! lol! Anyway, with Inuyasha as impulsive as ever and Kagome in danger, will Naraku succeed? Will Miroku be ok? Can anyone believe that Inuyasha spared Midoro?Who could the new eyes be? The right guess will be added to the next chapter! 


	49. The fight for Kagome!

_**Story: Kagraku**_

_**Chapter 48: The fight for Kagome!**_

_**Story by Aero Tendo**_

_(In the Feudal Era)_

Inuyasha ran through the tunnel at a quick pace with Midoro keeping up but even she had to admit that his speed was quite impressive as she found herself pushing to stay just even with him.

Midoro thinks, "He's so fast and that's while carrying Kagome too! I wonder how much faster he could move if he wasn't carrying her? He doesn't even seem to notice her weight from the expression on his face."

Inuyasha thinks, "Naraku! I'm not going to let you hurt Kagome! You will not succeed!" as he runs quickly and tightens his grip on Kagome a little so as to try moving faster without her falling off.

Kagome feels Inuyasha's grip tighten just a little before she notices his pace becoming faster and she thinks, "Inuyasha must be really worried that we won't get there on time if he's pushing himself to go so fast." She holds onto him more tightly so he won't have to worry about her falling off and notices the grip on her easing up in return.

Midoro thinks, "Those two are so good together, they seem to know what the other is thinking without a word and they thrust each other. They make a perfect couple." She smiles a little at the way they look before she turns her head to look ahead and focus on the path before her.

Soon they come to a wall and Inuyasha says, "It's a dead end!"

Midoro shakes her head, "No, it is merely closed so that anyone from within would not be aware of the secret tunnel. It is easy enough to open though." She reaches out and presses her hand against a stone that was jutting out. The stone goes into the wall slowly until becomes even with the wall and that's when the door opens with surprising silence until the chamber within is seen.

Inuyasha drops off Kagome and the three of them walk out into the fairly big chamber within. It was a large chamber with a high ceiling and as soon as the three of them were through the door shut quickly and quietly behind them without any hint of having ever been opened. A soft breeze is felt as the sand shifts at their feet stirs and the footprints vanish.

Inuyasha looks around and in the center of the large chamber were some steps leading up to what looked like a flame that danced in between two stone statues with their hands up at waist level as if waiting for something to be put there.

The two statues were of a male and female fox demon in the nude, yet the detail was at both the same sharp and dull as if the focus of the two fox demons was to be the head and the bodies the unimportant parts.

Midoro approaches the two statues from the stairs and kneels at the flame between them while Inuyasha and Kagome watched with confusion. She tilts her head forward says, "We come here to ask that you hear our request and allow us our wish to be granted. We have come here in..."

Just then Naraku says, "search of a way to cleanse the world of injustice and right a wrong done to another." from the only visible entrance in.

Inuyasha growls and shouts, "Naraku!"

Midoro stays kneeled even though she does raise her head and says, "Heed me and please do as..." She is again interrupted when Naraku reaches out with his hand, and his arm snakes out from his body to grab her by the waist and pull her violently away the two statues, sending her straight at him until she ends up against him.

Kagome cries out, "Midoro!" and takes a few steps forward before a new voice that sounded very much like Kagome's but somehow with a very dark, evil tone to it says, "I think you have more to worry about than her, don't you think Kagome?"

Inuyasha's eyes grow wide as Kagraku steps forward in traditional robes of a priestess and with a bow in her hands and the arrow already drawn. The two women looked exactly alike other than the clothes and from the evilness that Kagraku was showing.

Kagome gets her bow and a sacred arrow out, aiming it at Kagraku as she says, "You! You're the one that Naraku created!"

Kagraku smirks as she says, "Come now, I'm the one with the more complete spirit here. I should naturally be the one to exist in this world, not you Kagome."

Inuyasha growls, "Damn it Naraku! I don't know what you're planning but whatever it is, it won't work!"

Kagome says, "What do you mean? I'm the real article! You're just a clone!"

Kagraku laughs and says, "You haven't figured it out have you? You're the incomplete one; a good chunk of your lightness has been given up to fill that clay copy of Kikyo that wonders the world. Your ability is halved because she wanders the world for as long as she does."

Kagome shouts, "That's a lie! How could you possibly know anything like that?"

Midoro struggles and says, "L-let me go Naraku! You can't possibly know what to do to succeed!"

Naraku says, "Yes I do... while my children were in the mountain, they helped themselves to the history and records of the people within and I found out exactly what I will need to do to finish making my Kagraku complete in every way. When Kagraku is made whole with Kagome's destruction, then I will finally have what I want."

Inuyasha growls loudly, "You'll never succeed Naraku! I'll make sure it'll never happen!" He pulls out his sword and aims it at him.

Kagraku looks at Kagome and says, "Face it Kagome... you're just a shadow of what you are truly supposed to be. While my darkness is complete and untouched by that Kikyo woman. So I have more power and ability than you do and thus I deserve to exist more than you do."

Kagome shouts, "That's not true! You are just a copy! I am a real person with friends, family and a life! That's something you'll never have!"

Naraku says calmly at Inuyasha, "Are you really willing to risk harming this woman just to get at me? You know your sword can't get through my shield without Kagome's help and she looks like she's got her hands full at the moment."

Inuyasha thinks, "Damn Naraku! He's right! That's Shippou's mother and I can't get at him while she's trapped."

Naraku starts to walk towards the two statues and everyone is surprised when the heads turn towards him with their eyes lighting up. They watch him silently and if Inuyasha didn't know any better, he could swear that even the bodies of the two naked statues become more sharper in detail, as if the statues were becoming more real somehow.

Kagraku just laughs and says, "So what? Those things will never last like immortality will and that's something I will have while you'll just grow old and die. You know that Inuyasha will outlive you as well since he's a demon too don't you? I know that because that's what you fear... leaving him all alone."

Inuyasha was surprised when tears start to flow down Kagome's cheeks even as her aimed to quiver for a moment before she says, "So? He's a half-demon, maybe that'll mean that he will age like I do and we can be together like a normal couple."

Inuyasha thinks, "Kagome's worried about that? That I'll outlive her?" When he had decided to become a full demon so he could protect Kagome better, the thought of outliving her and being alone again never occurred to him. There is a strange feeling of sadness and pain in his heart as he thought about how he'd be alone once again.

Kagraku laughs evilly and says, "So? He'll have Kikyo because she's clay and can live as long as he will, maybe even longer! Isn't that why you're holding back on him?" She then grins darkly as she glances over at Inuyasha before she says, "MMMmmm, since I'll be immortal too maybe I'll see if he would like me. After all, I will be just like you..."

Kagome shouts, "No! You stay away from Inuyasha!" More tears flowed down her cheeks as Inuyasha thought about what he wanted to do with Kagome as far as his future went.

Naraku finishes the incantation needed for the statues and they both become as real as two stone statues could become with the even their stone fur stirring as they moved about. He says, "I ask you to make Kagraku the one and only real girl of the split from a curse as is within your power to do so."

The stone fox demoness swishes her tail close to the ground very slowly as she says, "It is within our power to do so. Do you have the liquid of life?"

Midoro didn't know what to do but she had to do something and then suddenly an old rule popped in her head. She says, "Pardon me, but isn't there a rule about how only one person can be before you two at a time?" It was a gamble on her part, as Naraku would either kill her or toss her away which would then free Inuyasha the chance to attack Naraku.

The stone fox demon nods and says, "She is right, only one person may be up here to make a request of us at any given time unless she is the one you wish to purify."

Naraku looks down at Midoro and since he was unaware of that rule he didn't know that he could kill her or free her. He chooses the option of freeing her by tossing her straight at Inuyasha hard as he can so as to provide a distraction.

He then says, "She was not the one I wish to purify. The one in the priestess clothing is the one I wish to purify of the one in the strange clothes." He pulls out the vial of liquid from his robes and holds it out for the statues to see as he says, "I do have the liquid of life."

Just as Inuyasha was knocked down by Midoro a arrow flies out of the secret tunnel which had opened silently and unnoticed by all and knocks the vial out of Naraku's hand by striking through his hand!

Kagraku shouts, "Who did that?" in an angry voice as she wondered who would be so foolish to attack.

Kikyo in her priestess clothes steps forward and says, "I did."

Kagome's eyes go wide and she shouts, "Kikyo!" in surprise. She wondered just what she was doing here or even how to know to be here but at that moment, she didn't care, as she was glad to see her!

Kagraku's eyes glowed darkly at Kikyo and says, "You... I suppose you're here to help save Kagome and yourself from being destroyed."

Kikyo readies another sacred arrow and says, "Yes I am. You will not destroy her." She said it so matter-of-fact like that it was hard not to think that she knew the outcome already.

Naraku regenerates his hand and looks around for the vial to see where it had gone to but it had vanished somehow.

Inuyasha grins as he says, "Looks like you won't be destroying anyone today Naraku!" He is already back on his feet with his sword in his hand with Midoro generating some foxfire in her hands as well.

Kagraku says, "You can't hope to defeat me! I am still whole and you two are split!" to Kagome and Kikyo.

Kikyo says, "Let us attack together Kagome." To which Kagome nods in agreement.

All three women let loose their arrows into the air with Kagraku's aimed at Kagome. The spiritual power of Kagraku's arrow was bright and strong but the two arrows of Kagome and Kikyo flew to meet at the same point where all three would meet in the air.

The result shocked Kagraku as the two arrows together destroyed her arrow in a bright flash of spiritual explosion! The two arrows continued their path and hit Kagraku on her clothes to cause her go flying back and get pinned to the wall! Both her arms were pinned to the wall!

Kagraku shrieks, "No! This can't be! I should have the full power of the two of you combined along with Naraku's power! How could this have happened!"

Naraku narrows his eyes at the scene before him. He had lost the vial and there was precious little time to find it in. With Kagraku pinned to the wall, he knew it was only a matter of time before she would be destroyed by either of the women. He still had the other girl but he still had plans for Kagraku and her abilities.

Inuyasha says, "Naraku! This is the end! You're surrounded and have no one left to help you!"

Naraku says coldly at Inuyasha, "I won't be defeated by the likes of you half-demon or your friends. Not on this day or any other."

Midoro says, "It sure looks like you'll be defeated today Naraku from my point of view... So for all tricks and pain you've caused everyone, we shall destroy you!"

Naraku looks at Midoro and says in a cold voice, "I won't forget this betrayal easily Midoro. You will pay for this."

From the opening that Naraku came through, a fierce wind comes through the tunnel, blowing sand and skulls through it and extinguishing the candles within the whole chamber, causing it to fall into darkness. The sand and skulls fly around, knocking into everyone hard for a minute until it finally and slowly stops.

When everyone opens their eyes and get back to their feet they find that not only was Naraku gone but so was Kagraku!

Inuyasha growls loudly, "Curse Naraku! We had him and he escaped!"

Midoro says, "There was no way a wind like that should have been able to get this deep into the caves naturally."

Kagome sighs and says, "It must have been Kagura. I'll bet she used her wind powers to create that storm to give Naraku time to escape with Kagraku." She shudders a little when she says the name as she remembers how evil Kagraku looked.

With Naraku gone, Kikyo says, "You will meet Naraku again Inuyasha, I am certain of that. He won't take this defeat lying down and he will strike again."

Kagome says, "At least he doesn't have the vial, so he can't come back here to destroy me again like that."

Midoro nods and says, "Yes and with the previous attack, the defenses will be on high alert for some time so I doubt he will find such another opportunity to steal another vial."

Inuyasha puts his sword away and says, "I'm just glad that this is one plan of Naraku's that we were able to foil." He then turns to Kikyo and says, "How did you find that secret passage? I thought Midoro was the only one who knew about it?"

Kikyo says, "I was passing through the area when I saw your friends outside. When I saw them waiting outside the corridor I knew the two of you would be inside but I didn't know why. So after I got the story from Sango, I made my way into here in time to come to help."

Kagome says, "Well I'm glad you did. I don't even want to think of what would have happened if you didn't show up!" She walks over to Inuyasha and says, "Are you ok Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha's mind was still playing what Kagraku had said about Kagome but now was not the time for a talk about that so he says, "Yeah, it'll take more than a little wind to hurt me!"

Kagome hugs him tightly for a few moments as she says, "I'm glad Inuyasha!"

Kikyo watches all this quietly and thinks, "So Sango wasn't exaggerating... she truly has changed." She then turns and starts to walk towards the only visible exit since the secret one had sealed itself back up as soon as she had walked through it.

Kagome lets go of Inuyasha and runs over to Kikyo to give her a hug from behind as she says, "Thank you Kikyo! I don't know how I can ever repay you!"

Kikyo was very surprised and more than just a bit embarrassed by what Kagome was doing and says, "You're welcome Kagome. Now will you please let me go?" She is relieved when Kagome lets go and starts to walk again.

Inuyasha says, "Thank you Kikyo" which makes Kikyo pause for a moment before she says while turning her head to glance back and say, "You're welcome Inuyasha. Just take care of Kagome until she's back to normal."

Inuyasha nods and says, "I will, that's a promise."

Kikyo nods, knowing that he'll do his best to keep that promise before she says, "Goodbye everyone." and walks down the tunnel.

Midoro says, "I guess we better be going too. I'm sure Sango will want to hear what happened as well." She walks over to the wall and presses a few rocks until the wall opens up quickly and quietly.

Everyone walks out of the room without another thought about the vial which they had all assumed to have been destroyed when it fell, not realizing that the stone demoness had simply lowered her tail over it so that it was hidden from sight which had they stayed around, they would have seen her lift to reveal it.

The stone demoness picks up the vial and looks at the stone demon partner before her and she says, "Should we end this? So that we will never again be used by Naraku or any other for evil purposes?"

The stone demon shakes his head and says, "No, that is not for us to decide. However, we shall keep it and protect it until the time is right to use it."

The stone demoness nods and says, "You're right." She then takes the vial and opens her tail to place the vial into it and then letting the fur fall back into place around it.

The two of them then move back into the position that they'd been in when Midoro had first arrived and their features slowly decay until only the heads were the only sharp features left with the rest a very dull, all stone form and once the glow in the eyes faded to nothingness, they looked like any other poorly done stone statue that one might find.

* * *

**AN:** Well my faithful Kagraku fans, here is yet another chapter to the story! Another piece of the puzzle has been revealed about Kagraku and just how deep its effects are on Kagome! Did anyone see Kikyo showing up? If you saw Kikyo coming to save the day, then give yourself a treat! What did you all think about Kagome's worry about Inuyasha outliving her? Even as a half-demon he is bound to age differently than a normal human right? Anyway, what did you all think of the stone statues? There IS a bit of history (at least for this story) related to them but maybe I'll get back to that later on or in any questions you reviewers might post. I do answer all reviews posted. ALL thoughts, ideas, suggestions, wishes, etc are welcomed!

Next chapter: I plan to have the gang continue on their quest to help Kagome but don't worry... fluff will be coming up! I know that some of you readers want to see that. Lol!


	50. Choices

_**Story: Kagraku**_

_**Chapter 49: Choices**_

_**Story by Aero Tendo**_

_(In the Feudal Era)_

With the vial destroyed, the threat to Kagome was gone for the time being but they were also back at square one as how to turn Kagome back to normal.

Sango says, "Well at least Kagome is safe until Naraku can come up with a new way to destroy Kagome."

Kagome hugs Inuyasha tightly and says, "I'm not worried, I have my Inuyasha and I know he'll keep me safe always!"

Inuyasha blushes a little, while looking uncomfortable at the same time. His arms are pinned to his side and while his demon strength would have allowed him to escape, he didn't want to hurt Kagome. He looks to his friends and pleads with his eyes but they just smile and watch without lifting a finger to help.

Even Midoro who thought that they looked so adorable together didn't move a muscle to help.

Shippou was busy talking with Soten about something so he was ignoring Inuyasha.

Kilala just simply meows as if to say, "Don't look at me" to Inuyasha.

Miroku, who had finally woken up says, "With the loss of the vial, we don't have any choice but to return to the source and see if we can obtain another sample of the water to see if we can return Kagome back to normal."

Midoro winces and says, "Um… I don't think we can avoid returning to tell them what happened and how we lost the vial."

Finally Kagome lets go of Inuyasha and smiles, "We kicked Naraku's butt! I'm so proud of you Inuyasha!" and with that she gives him a surprising kiss on the lips, which makes his eyes twitch back and forth.

Miroku looks at Sango after seeing the two of them kiss for the longest time until Sango notices him just staring at her.

Sango says, "Wh-What are you staring at me like that for?"

Miroku says, "Come to me Sango, if Kagome and Inuyasha can share a kiss. Shouldn't we be able to?"

Sango blushes redly and looks around, seeing that Shippou isn't paying attention but Midoro just has a smile that any woman would know as the kind where she can tell Sango really **does** want the kiss but is too shy.

Sango blushes even more furiously before she says, "You've got the wrong idea monk! I mean, why would I want to kiss you?"

Midoro sighs and thinks, "You'll thank me for this…" She steps close enough and then uses her tail to bat Sango off balance just enough so that she lands in Miroku's arms.

With Sango's face inches from Miroku's, it was very hard to resist kissing Miroku but fortunately she didn't have to worry for it long as Miroku suddenly moves forward and their lips meet!

Sango's eyes were wide as she thinks, "Miroku kissed me! He's… kissing… me." She closes her eyes as she starts to kiss back, enjoying the kiss as she forgets about where she was and who might be watching.

Midoro smiles as she wonders if Sango would ever realize that she had also pushed Miroku into the kiss. She thinks, "Probably best not to ever mention it. They make such a cute couple."

Midoro turns and sees that Kagome is _still_ kissing Inuyasha! If anything, the kiss seemed to have intensified and she could tell that Inuyasha wasn't resisting any more either by the way he had wrapped his arms around her. She looks to Shippou and sees that they are talking still, ignoring what's going on.

_(Meanwhile back in the Modern day)_

Kagome's mother walks by the sacred well and thinks, "I wonder if Kagome's doing any better? I sure hope she's not causing any trouble for Inuyasha if she's not." She then smiles as she remembers what had happened before and thinks, "Then again… I doubt Inuyasha really minds if he gets attention like that."

She takes the bags that she had been taking in to the house and after putting away the groceries, she starts to cook. Her mind wanders back to Kagome as she thinks, "I trust them… but I do hope that Inuyasha and Kagome won't do anything that they might regret."

Just then Kagome's younger brother walks in and says, "Hi Mom! How's it going?"

Kagome's mother turns, putting her thoughts aside for the time being as she says, "Oh, welcome home! I was just beginning preparations for Dinner. Would you like to help?"

He smiles and says, "Sure! I'd love to!" He quickly joins her at the table and together they begin chopping up stuff.

_(Back in the Feudal Era)_

Midoro had picked up the two children and taken them away from the two kissing groups.

Midoro looks at the two young demons after putting them down on the ground and notices just how quiet they are being. The silence begins to make her tail tip twitch and she says, "Ok, what's going on? A few minutes ago you two were talking up a storm with each other."

Shippou lightly blushes and says, "It is nothing mother…" when all of a sudden Soten quickly says, "We were talking about relationships!"

Shippou smacks his forehead and then looks at Soten with a look that reads, "What'd you have to go and tell my MOM for?"

Soten looks back at Shippou and weakly says, "Sorry Shippou! I cracked under the pressure."

Midoro narrows her eyes at her son and says, "Shippou…?"

Shippou sighs and says, "We've both noticed how Kagome and Inuyasha's relationship has changed. We were talking about whether or not it'd be better if Kagome stayed the way she is and what would happen if they changed back."

Soten says, "We also noticed that Miroku and Sango seem to be acting more friendly towards each other. Shippou seems to think that it is because when it comes to progress, he's always followed the examples set by Inuyasha and Kagome."

Midoro thinks, "I guess that makes sense, after all he is a lecherous monk and those two, for all their problems are more pure." She says, "And what about you two?"

Shippou says, "Huh? What about us?"

Midoro says, "Don't play coy with me. I've noticed that the two of you have been growing rather close too." She grins as she leans forward and taps Shippou's nose before she says, "Oh, and I approve of her being your girlfriend if that's what you want."

Shippou just looks at his mother speechless before he shouts, "MOOOOOOM!"

Midoro giggles and says, "Oh? That's not good enough? Well, you are a bit young but I don't see why you two can't get engaged. I think you two would make a great couple for when you two become of age." She grins at the two of them and just watches the way they both react.

Both Shippou and Soten were blushing incredibly red and having a hard time looking at each other without quickly sending their eyes downward to stare at their feet, which had apparently become very interesting to look at.

Midoro grabs the two of them by the shoulders and pulls them towards each other until they bump into each other, forcing them to look into each other's eyes.

Shippou and Soten manage to blush even more red than before as their eyes meet and they stand there, unsure of what to say.

Midoro shakes her head and starts to walk away as she says, "See if you can't come to some agreement about something when I get back ok?" She didn't expect a reply and got none as not even Shippou's tail moved.

Midoro walks back to find Kagome and Inuyasha breaking up from the kiss with Sango and Miroku already apart and trying to look innocent of anything such as the kiss they'd shared a few moments ago.

Suddenly Inuyasha starts to stiff in the air while Miroku responds a moment later with them both looking in the same direction.

Midoro starts to sniff the air, curious as to what was going on before her eyes narrow and she says, "Naraku…"

Everyone stays where they are, waiting as the scent gets closer and closer until finally instead of Naraku showing up Kagura shows up on her feather.

Inuyasha shouts, "If you're here to get Kagome, you won't get her without a fight!"

Kagura begins to lower herself down as she says, "Calm yourself Inuyasha… I'm not here to fight. Simply to deliver a message."

Miroku's curiosity was peaked and he says, "What is the message Kagura?"

Kagura sighs and says, "This doesn't make any sense to me but maybe it will to you. The message is… Mirror, Mirror and minus two make for a wild battle. Go north if you want what you desire."

Miroku repeats it to himself softly before he shouts up to Kagura, "What is awaiting us north of here Kagura?"

Kagura shrugs and says, "I don't know. Naraku doesn't tell me anything. He just sends me out on whatever errand that he pleases, otherwise I don't think he cares about me in the least bit." She starts to fly up higher as she says, "Well I am done here. Good bye." After that she quickly flies off and vanishes from sight.

Inuyasha says, "What did all that mean?" He looks over to Kagome who shrugs and then to Sango who shakes her head.

Midoro says, "Don't look at me, he's been your enemy longer than he's been mine."

Miroku looks around as he thinks about what is said before he stops in mid-thought and says, "Where are Shippou and Soten?"

Midoro's eyes go wide and she shouts, "No!" as she bolts off quickly with Inuyasha and the others following as fast as they can go.

Midoro stops as she discovers Shippou and Soten laying on the ground. She moves up to them, hoping that they're just asleep and not hurt in any way… pausing to say, "Shippou? Soten? Are you two ok?"

The two of them don't stir and Inuyasha grips his sword with his hand as he prepares for the worse before Kagome grabs him by the arm and shakes her head.

Sango gasps as she looks at the sight and whispers, "Shippou! No…"

Midoro is afraid to touch them, fearing the worse. She'd only just recently found out that her son was alive and the fear that she'd lost him again was almost too much for her to bear.

Miroku walks up and checks them out before he says, "They're both alive…" causing everyone to relax until he adds, "But their souls have been drained from them. Most likely because Kanna used her mirror on them."

Tears flow down Midoro's cheeks as she picks up her son Shippou and cradles him in her arms as she softly says, "Everything will be all right… Mommy will make everything ok for the two of you… I promise."

* * *

**AN:** Well it has been an eternity since I have updated this story and I hope you all know that I still love the Inuyasha show. So, now come the questions. What did you think of the kissing moment between Inuyasha and Kagome? What of Sango and Miroku? And what did you think of Midoro's teasing with Shippou and Soten? Did any of you solve the riddle before Miroku? What is the answer? Do you think Shippou and Soten will be restored before it is too late? What is awaiting them in the north, any guesses?

As usual, all thoughts, ideas, suggestions, hints, answers, Halloween costume suggestions and more are welcome. :D


	51. Two

_**Story: Kagraku**_

_**Chapter 50: Two**_

_**Story by Aerotendo**_

_(In the Feudal Era)_

Midoro carries Shippou and Soten in her arms as the whole group makes their way North quickly as possible. Her heart was torn in half, she was very sad that her son and his "kind-of" girlfriend was assaulted and drained of their souls and so quickly before they could alert anyone. The pain in the sadness at not being a better mother to Shippou was eating at her as well and she would do whatever it took to get both of them back. The other half of her heart was so very angry at this Kanna person for stealing such young souls. Her tail whips about more even as she resisted the instinctual urge to clench her hands or extend her claws because that would mean hurting the body of her son and there was no way she would allow her son to become hurt any further! She had to be careful with her tail as well since she was carrying Soten on her back in a quickly made carrier that was much like the one she had made to carry Shippou when he was a baby.

If there was a chance to save the two of them, she would risk it. Even if it meant her own life. She owed her son a chance at a life and happiness. It was the least that she could do after not being around in his life for so long. Taking a long look around at the ones she was traveling North with, Midoro could see why Shippou had chosen to hang around them for as long as he did instead of trying to find other fox-demons to live with. They were good people who protected and helped each other. Even her son had a useful part in the group and he was nowhere as powerful as a normal fox-demon or herself for that matter. She had no doubt that even if she had never found out her son was alive, they would become his family and kept him safe as well as loved forever.

Midoro looks over at the way Inuyasha and Kagome looked as they moved together and had a feeling that Shippou was already part of the family. It hurt her heart but she was also very pleased that he had people like them who would do anything, just as she would to restore him. Perhaps they would make better parents than Shippou's father and herself could ever have been to him as wrapped up in their own lives as they had been.

Kagome looks over at Midoro and for a second their eyes meet and a connection formed. Midoro and Kagome instantly knew what was in each other's heart and mind. They would both get the two back no matter what and that they would do it together.

Midoro bows her head slowly while never totally losing eye contact to say, "You have my deepest thanks, Kagome" to which Kagome nods back to say in response, "No thanks needed" before Kagome adds a small smile to add, "Let's do our best!" Midoro half-smiles back at Kagome to say, "Yes". Midoro turns her head away to break eye contact to Kagome lest she understand that she didn't expect that Naraku would just hand over two souls without a cost of some kind somewhere and her gut feeling was a life would be what he would demand in time.

Kagome didn't need to see Midoro's face to know what she was thinking. She knew Naraku far better than her and that Naraku would try to do something to destroy them all or to cause more grief and pain. What could be more stronger than a mother's grief? She just hoped that for all their sakes, she was wrong.

_(In the Modern Day)_

Kagome's mother walks out to the yard and looks over the sacred tree after dinner, hoping that Kagome was ok. She couldn't shake this feeling that all was not right ever since that incident at the hospital. She had no doubt that Inuyasha would fiercely protect Kagome with his life and not because of any promises but because he loved her.

Walking up to the sacred tree she looks closely at the huge scar it had and thought for just a moment she saw a part of it glow very faintly. She steps up to the tree for a more closer look and the glow becomes stronger. It is too high up for her until she stands up on her very tippy toes and that's when she sees a hole in the scar. Peeking in with one eye she gasps loudly!

_(Back in the Feudal Era)_

Miroku says, "Everyone, this looks like a good spot." Causing everyone to slow down.

Midoro says, "What is a good spot?"

Miroku looks at Midoro, knowing that what he was going to say would be the last thing that she wanted to hear but he could see it on her even if she would deny it. She was exhausted from so stubbornly carrying Shippou and Soten as well as covering the distance they all did in so short a time. "This looks like a good spot to stop and rest. Everyone is tired after everything that we have all been through lately." He raises a hand up to stop any objections and says, "Try and deny it but you know we will need to be at our best when we reach our destination if we have any hope of rescuing the souls of Shippou and Soten."

Midoro clamps her mouth shut as she glares at the monk before her and reluctantly nods quickly. She normally would have argued but now that they had stopped she was noticing just how totally drained she was. She could barely stand as it was and his arguments were well thought out. She carefully places the two children down as slowly and carefully as she can before she takes a few steps towards Miroku to have a few words with him but she instead became very tired very quickly and Inuyasha quickly says, "Midoro!" as he zips over and catches her as she falls asleep even before he manages to catch her.

Inuyasha didn't what to do next and says, "Uh... Kagome? Miroku? A little help here?"

Miroku walks over and says, "Put her over by the children Inuyasha."

Inuyasha puts her down between Shippou and Soten's bodies and looks down at her sleeping form, seemingly stressed even then before he says, "What's her problem? It shouldn't have been that hard to carry the both of them for her."

Kagome sniffles as she looks a Midoro and says, "I understand fully! She is a mother and... and..." that is as far as she got before she started to cry.

Inuyasha hated to see Kagome cry and quickly says, "What? Was it something I said?" He wraps his arms around Kagome and says, "Please don't cry Kagome! I am sorry for whatever I said to upset you."

Miroku says, "She isn't crying because of you Inuyasha, but rather because she is sensitive to how Midoro is feeling."

Sango looks at Miroku, wondering just how or when the monk got so good at sensing a woman's feelings.

Miroku looks down at the sleeping Midoro and after a sigh he says, "I suspect that she has been pushing herself harder than necessary even for a demon because she is so stressed and worried about Soten and her son's state. Judging from how tired she is, I would guess that she has exhausted herself mentally and physically."

Sango feels her heart beat at how Miroku was so sensitive when he wasn't being a lecherous jerk.

Kagome stops crying to look at Miroku and say, "You're right! That is exactly why!" She spins to look directly into Inuyasha's eyes and with teary eyes gazing into his, she says to him with only a small sniffle, "You will get Shippou and Soten back right? You won't let anything happen to Midoro will you? Shippou needs his mother and if... and if... anything happened to..." She trails off as she looks down into Inuyasha's chest."

Inuyasha grips Kagome by the arms near the shoulders and steps back, causing Kagome to look once more at his face as he says in all serious passion, "I won't let anything happen to any of them Kagome. I promise we'll get them back and Shippou will have his mother waiting for him!"

Kagome cries out as she shrugs off his hands and leaps against him with her arms wrapping around him, "Oh Thank You Inuyasha!" and smiles as she tightens her arms around him. She wasn't aware of it but if she had looked up at that moment, she would have seen him blushing as he looked to Miroku and Sango for help but failing to get any.

No one noticed Midoro's fretful sleep ease up as she had heard Inuyasha's promise even her sleep and that somehow changed her nightmare going on into a happier dream.

After Inuyasha manages to pry Kagome off of him he says, "I'll take the first watch. The rest of you get some rest." The others nod and after making a small fire to keep warm to, they all drift off to sleep with Inuyasha standing guard as he holds his Tenseiga sword within its scabbard.

Inuyasha resists the urge as he wanted to slash Naraku already and restore his friends back to the way they were supposed to be. Still, a part of him knew that as with all things involving him. It wouldn't be quite that simple. He knew that he had to keep the promises that he made to Kagome no matter what and a quick glance at Midoro seemed to confirm that she was thinking of Shippou as she whispered too softly for human ears the word, "Shippou..." He clenches his teeth together and stops himself from growling, lest Miroku or Sango hear and wake up. After all, for humans they were surprisingly light sleepers.

He looks over at the sleeping Kagome and wonders if it is really possible to get the old Kagome back after so much time had gone by already. Leaning back, he props himself up against a tree, a familiar feel for him after having been pinned to one for a long time by Kikyo's arrow.

A while later, Miroku wakes up and takes over the watch with him saying to Inuyasha before Inuyasha had go to sleep, "Thank you Inuyasha."

Inuyasha looks at Miroku, very puzzled and says, "What are you thanking me for?"

Miroku looks a Inuyasha with all seriousness as he says, "For making those promises that you did to Kagome. If there was any one of us that could pull them off. I really believe that it is you."

Inuyasha was very surprised at Miroku's faith in him and he just growls, "Whatever, just don't fall asleep on us."

Miroku chuckles and says, "You're welcome Inuyasha." He watches as Inuyasha takes a high branch over the group and notices that instead of being directly over Kagome like usual. He was picking one that was closer to Midoro and the kids as well. Meaning that as far as Inuyasha was concerned, he was watching over and protecting the four of them.

* * *

**AN:** I certainly hope that you enjoy this chapter. It has been a while in the making. What do you think of Midoro's anguish? Is it real enough for you? What do you think of Inuyasha's promises to Kagome? What do you think Kagome's mother saw? Any guesses? Do you think Shippou and Soten will get their souls back?

As usual all reviews, votes, ideas, suggestions, questions and more are always welcome.


End file.
